Going Home - An Alternate Take
by fmfan1980
Summary: I made two different versions of the 'Going Home' arc (Chapter 123 to 128) on AEM. The final version that I chose was the one I uploaded onto the site, and it's an arc I'm happy with as it is. But I've still been thinking about the other version, and so I decided to finish it and upload it. (*29/11/2015: Made some edits to final chapter.)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis and BSG: 2003. This is just a work of fiction which will eventually (hopefully) encompass four of the best shows ever made (in my opinion). So yes I have made (and will make in the future) some changes to the details for each show and hopefully they will be interconnected pretty well. All reviews are welcome.

 **Espresso Pump, Sunnydale, CA; 1300 hours.**

Willow groaned as she slowly opened her eyes and moved her head from one side to another. The last thing she remembered was hands pulling on her after she fired a shot through Adria's chest on the Ori ship at the Supergate, and then she felt a pain in her chest, followed by looking up at Faith screaming at her while running. She remembered that the Slayer's good hand was outstretched towards Willow; the redhead remembered reaching for the hand, but it just passed through.

'And now here I am' thought Willow to herself as she slowly sat herself up while shaking her head to stop the dizziness, 'wherever here is."

Willow closed her eyes and remembered that the last thought she had was something about a ZPM, but now she couldn't recall anything. Sighing, she looked down and checked her body for any injuries while recalling her memories as Athena on Atlantis, and then on Earth, followed by her ascension and then rebirth. The redhead was glad that the Others didn't take those memories away, however she still had an empty feeling inside her as if there was something she was missing.

Looking around she looked in surprise as she found herself sitting up in between what looked like two counters. Getting up on her feet slowly, Willow looked down at the counter to her left that had a cash register, and then at the counter to her left that consisted of various coffee machines, coffee grinders, blender and a large menu above all of that equipment.

'The Espresso Pump? I'm on Earth?' thought Willow to herself as she turned and looked at all the overturned tables and chairs. It seemed as though people left in a hurry, but then… she looked closer at a few table tops and noticed what seemed to be blood. Wanting to make a closer inspection of the dried red stain, Willow took a few steps from behind the counter before she stopped and grabbed her chest while stepping backwards. Her mouth open in pain, Willow collapsed on both her knees and leaned forward until her forehead touched the floor.

It felt as if something sharp had been rammed straight to her heart. Letting out a small gasp, Willow held on to her chest and felt onto her side, the pain in her chest radiating throughout her body as tears started to fall from her eyes; it was so intense that she had gotten in the foetal position and tried to keep herself from screaming.

'Oh God' thought Willow to herself as she shut her eyes tight and tried to control her breathing, 'the pain.'

It had been an hour since Willow opened her eyes again, realizing that even though the pain itself had gone, she could still feel a strange sensation in her chest.

'Feels like something's fluctuating in my chest, but it's not my heart' thought Willow to herself as she slowly sat up and pushed herself backwards until her back was leaning against the coffee counter. It was then that the redhead started to breathe normally before she checked her gear. She unclipped her P90 and found she had only half of a magazine left with another spare in her vest. She then slowly stood up while checking for her combat knife, which was soon followed by taking out her sidearm and checking the loaded magazine. Nodding her head at the full magazine, she then checked her vest for the two spare magazines. Satisfied with what she found so far, Willow checked her left though holster for her Zat. She looked around and found her radio, binoculars, and the two blocks of C-4 that SG-1 always carried with them.

Her hand on the register counter, Willow slowly walked out from behind it and looked around. She walked over to a few tables and crouched down when she saw the red stains of the table tops. Then she found more on the floor, and on the chairs. Standing up, she looked to her left at the street outside as her eyes went wide in surprise. Making her way to the main entrance to the coffee shop, Willow saw that there were overturned cars, buildings almost collapsing.. in fact, all that remained of some shops on that street were a few standing walls. There were decomposed body parts on the street, as well as blood splatters every which way she looked. The redhead looked around with her hands in her hair as the shock of what she was looking at registered in her mind; it was as if she entered some post-apocalyptic world.

'How long was I gone?' thought Willow to herself when she heard a scream from the sky. Looking up, she stepped back in horror as the sky itself was red in colour, 'what the hell?'

She quickly jumped back into the Espresso Pump and took cover just as a dragon broke through the red clouds and flew over where she was. Hearing the wings of the creature flapping overhead, Willow stayed down behind the register counter and waited for the dragon to move away.

"Seriously" said Willow as she slowly got up and walked back to the entrance after the dragon flew away, and then looked up at the sky. She could even make the outline of the sun, but she couldn't feel its warmth, "the SGC should be doing something, right? I mean… what the hell?"

Willow then reached for her radio as she went back into the coffee shop and tried to call for the Prometheus Station. She made the same call a few more times but received no response. Shaking her head, she then looked around inside the shop and noticed a payphone at the far wall. Running there, Willow picked up the handle and put it to her ear before quickly putting it back on the cradle.

'No dial tone' thought Willow to herself, 'I need to tell the SGC I'm here and….'

The redhead ducked behind an overturned table as she heard motorcycle engines coming towards her, followed by laughter and screams. Peeking her head from behind the table, she heard the screams die off as soon as six motorcycles riden by what she could only describe as demonic bikers rode by laughing. Willow hid again and waited as the sounds of the motorcycles drifted away before she peeked from behind the table again and narrowed her eyes.

"This is Willow to the BPRI" said the redhead as she switched the frequency of the radio to the one that she knew the BPRI was using while she stayed behind the table, "Angel? Cordy? Anyone? Do you read me? I'm looking at some crazy stuff in Sunnydale and.. hello? Is there anyone? Please respond."

Willow waited a few seconds for a response, but upon hearing nothing she stood up from behind the table and took out her Zat. She didn't want to waste any of her rounds in case more of those bikers came should she actually manage to kill one. Taking cover behind the small wall that separated the outdoor dining area from the pavement, Willow looked up and saw that the sign for the Espresso Pump was torn in half, with the intact half hanging on one side.

Reaching for her thigh, the redhead unholstered her Zat and activated it. Looking over the wall, she noticed three streaks of fresh blood, as well as skin and pieces of organs that followed the direction the bikers had taken off in. Closing her eyes as she crouched down again, Willow tried to perform a remote viewing using her abilities… the same technique she used to located Sineya when she was Athena the day the First Slayer died, and the day that she located the bullets in General Carter's body after he was shot by Pete. However, nothing happened.

Opening her eyes, Willow looked at one of the overturned tables and tried to move it with her mind. But once again, she was unsuccessful. She even tried to gather energy in the palm of her hands, as well as get off a bio-electrical charge… but she was still unsuccessful.

"Oh boy" said Willow as she leaned against the wall, "when the Others punish, they really do punish. How long have I been gone? The SGC, or Home World should be here by now… I mean… it's only a few hours from the Supergate to Earth for the Odyssey, but the other ships should have been launched by now."

Shaking her head, Willow decided it would be best to make a move, and not stay in one place for too long. She cautiously checked the immediate area again, before standing up and walking on the pavement, trying to stay hidden in any alley she could find until she was sure that her immediate area was clear. Willow moved as stealthily as she could from one building to another, from one alley to the next.

All the while she saw windows broken as if the shops and apartments were looted, some cars were overturned while others were crushed. She looked around as she saw large swathes of dried blood on the streets, and other types of decaying organic matter.

"Is there anyone alive?" whispered Willow to herself as she took cover as she heard a commotion from an upcoming intersection. Taking cover, Willow peeked her head out as she heard a snarling noise coming from above her. Looking up, Willow opened her eyes wide at some spider-like demons that were climbing down the side of the building and heading right towards her. Raising the Zat, Willow made multiple shots at the spiders… missing a few shots but still hit the four with the rest. They then fell onto the ground and curled their legs inwards as Willow walked over to them and shot them more times until they vanished. Heading back to the intersection, Willow ducked into a closer alley and saw various types of demons fighting each other, while others were gathered around large wooden stakes that had mutilated corpses hanging on them. Closing her eyes and looking away, Willow ran the other way, away from more demons who were gathering in that area.

'I don't have enough ammo' thought the redhead to herself as she looked up at the sky. Willow stopped moving and blinked her eyes a few more times to make sure that what she was seeing couldn't be true, 'the sky's getting redder.'

Looking around the sides of the building, Willow saw a fire escape and cautiously climbed up to the roof of the building. Getting onto her abdomen, while at the same time keeping an eye out for those spiders. Crawling over to the edge of the roof, Willow took out her binoculars and looked through them as she watched some demons tearing off the bodies from the stakes before a few more demons dragged more bodies. Shaking her head as screaming victims were staked through their chests, while other demons laughed…. Willow looked on as more and more demons started to gather. It was a few minutes later that Willow noticed the sky getting a darker shade of red until even the outline of the sun was gone. Looking back at the scene in front of her, Willow watched with eyes wide open as she looked out into the city; at the thousands of demons who were gathered around her. She slowly stood up to get a better sense of what was happening, and it was then she saw bright flickering lights from all over the city. Willow ran to the fire escape once she heard every sound imaginable heading towards the area close her. The redhead quickly climbed down the stairs and into the alley. She then ran behind a dumpster so that the demons that were heading past one end of the alley couldn't see her.

Trying to be as calm as possible, while at the same time realizing that she was alone, and had limited ammo; Willow hugged the wall, staying in the shadows being cast by the darkening red sky and slowly made her way to the other side of the alley.

When she was almost at the end, she felt the ground shaking… followed by the sounds of thuds that were coming closer, and closer. Taking cover behind one of the buildings on either side of the alley, Willow peeked from behind the building and looked at the other end of the alley as demons walked, crawled and slithered by… as well as three fairly large demons who were about eight feet tall. Willow crouched deeper into the shadows hopeful that she wouldn't be found out while the demons started to chant as the ground started shaking harder.

"The Wolf, the ram, the hart" chanted the demons as Willow watched even more demons walking by the other end of the alley soon. Soon, the street was full of demons that some even entered the alley that the redhead was looking through. Leaning back against the back wall of the building, Willow looked around for anything that she could use. Finding nothing, the redhead looked back into the alleyway as more demons entered. With no other choice, the redhead stayed in the shadows and ran as silently, and as fast as she could. Eventually she reached the end of the street that lay behind the buildings before she jumped into another alley and hid behind a dumpster. Willow leaned with her back to the dumpster after she ran into this particular alley, she wasn't sure.. but she thought that one of the demons, the same type that was riding motorcycles earlier, was conducting a patrol and may have seen her jump into this alley.

"I thought I saw something" said that demon as he turned into the street behind the buildings where that large gathering was taking place, "it may be one of those tasty humans."

"Don't take too long" said the other demons before riding off, "the Three have heard from the First, this world will be ours once again. We take out what remains of humanity, and then we feast."

The demon grinned at the other bikers before they went off on their patrol. He approached the alley that he had seen the figure duck into. As he walked into the alley, he saw a redheaded girl in an uniform, and then a blue streak of light heading towards him.

Willow saw the demon fall onto the ground and peeked at the horde of demons gathered at the other end of the alley, a horde that took up at least five blocks.

'Could be thousands there by now' thought Willow to herself as she noticed that no one heard the sound of the Zat. She then looked at the body of the demon before firing two more times for the body to disintegrate. She then headed out the end of the alley that the demon biker had come from before she found his bike. Picking up the skulls and bones that were decorating the vehicle, Willow got on and started the engine. She then rode the motorcycle with one hand holding on to the Zat, which she had to use before she reached the street that was leading up to the large gathering. She was just plain lucky that the demons seemed to be more focused on the three larger demons when she shot the other bikers who came by looking for their friend.

With the lights to the motorcycle turned off, Willow took off away from the gathering. She kep on riding, and shooting at a few demons who recognized her as human with her Zat. She continued going until she reached Rovello drive and was shocked by what she had seen. The main street was littered with bodies, the lawns were littered with blood and body parts while most of the houses were just rubble. Willow looked at both sides of the street as she looked on in utter shock at the destruction. She soon reached what once had been Buffy's house. Willow rode up to the pavement and put her hands over her mouth when she saw mutilated, and decayed, bodies on the lawn. All of young women.

'Buffy' thought Willow to herself before she reached for her radio while sitting on the bike, and looking around for any movement, 'without my powers… damn it.'

"This Major Willow Rosenberg calling all civilian and military frequencies" said Willow as she changed her channel to an unencrypted frequency, "is there anyone who reads me? I repeat, I am Major Willow Rosenberg of the U. S. Air Force… is there anyone in Sunnydale? Any Military presence, and civilian presence?"

Shaking her head when she didn't get an answer, Willow turned the bike around and was set to leave the area when she noticed movement. She raised her Zat as seven creatures walked towards her. She could tell, even in the darkness, that they looked like vampires… they were pale, had yellow eyes, claws, sharp teeth and they looked old.

"Really old" said Willow to herself as she revved her bike and raised her Zat. She fired one shot at one of the vampires, and was surprised when he stepped back a bit before continuing towards her. Willow then fired multiple shots at the vampire until it disappeared; an auctioned that surprised all of them.

'Ok' thought Willow as she fired shots in quick succession towards them before breaking through their line after another two had fallen, 'Teal'c did say it usually takes one shot to stun people. Usually being the key word.'

Willow kept on going until the howls were far behind her. It was then she stopped when a voice came through the radio.

"Calling…. Clai…. Rosen…"

"Whoever this is" said Willwo as she stopped and looked behind her, and then at her surroundings, "I reapeat, my name is Major Willow Rosenberg, U.S. Air Force."

"This is Captain Finn of the U.S. Army, whoever this is… it's not funny. Stay where you are, and identify yourself."

"Riley?" asked Willow over her radio in surprise, "when.. huh? Don't you mean Lt. Colonel?"

"Whoever this is" said Riley again, "we already have a Willow. In fact, she's standing right next to me… I've known her for years. So whoever this is, if this is the First trying to trick us.. "

"Captain" said Willow as she shook her head in disbelief as she slowly realized what the Others had done. However, she soon heard snarls and growling heading towards her again. Putting the Zat back in it's holster, Willow took off while talking to Riley at the same time, "I'm being chansed by some funky vampires, and you've got a demon infestation in Sunnydale. If there is another me, then ask her about the existence of alternate realities."

"Willow?" asked Riley as he looked back at the shocked redhead who looked back at him.

"I didn't do any magic" said Willow as she put her hands up, "I mean, not something that can access another reality and…"

"Willow" said Buffy as she walked into the communications room at the Sunnydale Army base, "the demons are…."

"Riley" said Major Willow's voice over the radio again as Buffy stopped what she was going to say and looked at her Willow in surprise after she recognized the voice over the radio, "listen to me. My name is Major Willow Rosenberg, I'm from an alternate reality and I need help getting back.. your Willow will tell you why."

"Willow?" asked Buffy as she looked at the other redhead while there were loud voices outside the building.

"I don't know" said the redhead as she shrugged her shoulder.

"Damn it, Captain" shouted Major Willow, "I need to know where you are. I have limited ammo and only two weapons on me. So I'll ask again… where the hell I can meet you, and myself."

"Riley" said Buffy as she shook her head, "you know what the First can do. She'd already taken physical form and…"

"But it can only become dead people" said Riley as he looked at Buffy, and then behind the blonde Slayer as two new people walked in.

"General, sir" said Riley as he got up and nodded at the man, and then nodded at the other man next to him whose arm was in a sling.

"Captain" said the General as he nodded his head at Riley before telling him to take a seat, "what's going on?"

"Sir" said Riley as the two men stood behind him, "it's weird…."

"Giles" said Buffy at the one whose arm was in the sling, "she's claiming to be Willow from another reality."

"Willow?" said Giles as he looked at the redhead who promised him that she didn't do anything.

"Miss" said the General as he reached over Riley's shoulder and pressed the transmit button, "my name is General Hank Landry, and you are?"

"Sir" said Willow with a sense of relief as she rode the motorcycle to the outskirts of the city, "I'm Major Willow Rosenberg. Sir, I know this is a weird question but has anyone used the Chappa'ai?"

"Excuse me?" said the General as the others just looked at the microphone confused.

"Sir" said Willow as she suddenly stopped the motorcycle, "please tell me you know about the Chappa'ai? Project Giza? Please tell me you know about, or at least heard about Project Pegasus?"

"Major" said the General, "you're not making any sense."

'No' thought Willow to herself as it suddenly dawned on her, that she may not be able to go home to her own reality, "Sir, I.. I need to talk to you in person. What I have to say… well, it's classified.. and…. Let's just say that in my reality, you're my base commander.. and you'd be real pissed if I told anyone what I have to say without permission."

"Buffy!" shouted a young woman who stormed into the building, "we've got demons incoming, about fifty or so… they have the symbol of the Three. They'll be here in ten minutes."

"The First is making its move" said Riley as he looked at Buffy, and then at Giles and General Landry, "Sir?"

"Defensive formation everyone" said the General as he looked at Riley who ran out the door. The General then looked at Buffy and told her to get her girls prepared for any demons who make it through. Nodding her head, Buffy looked at the radio, and then at Willow before following the young woman who called for her out the door. Then finally turning towards Willow, he told her to work with the other two witches on base and work on something that would slow the demons down.

"We're losing" said Willow.

"Not yet" replied the General as she looked at Giles who nodded his head. Watching the redhead run out the door as well, Giles turned and saw General Landry speak into the microphone, "Major, we're at the Sunnydale Army Base. But I should tell you that we'll be under attack in less than ten minutes. I'm not sure if we'll still be here. Use caution."

"Understood, sir" said Major Willow as she turned the bike into a side street, "I'll be there in ten. Should warn you that, I think I'm being chased by something."

"Understood" said the General, "good luck."

'I'll need it' thought Willow to herself as she sped through the streets.

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sunnydale Army Base, 1400 hours.**

Buffy ran to one of the barracks on the Army base and pushed the door open hard, before rushing inside to her bed and picking up an elegantly curved weapon with red accents that looked similar to a scythe. She then looked at the fifteen girls who were either sleeping, or just sitting on their own beds enjoying themselves until they were called into action. Buffy looked at them and thought about that day nearly seven months ago, she could still smell the inside of the Hellmouth when she closed her eyes.

They were battling the First, who had already made its move nearly three years prior. However no one knew until later what happened. It was Dawn who came to her one afternoon while Buffy was in the kitchen. It was soon after the blonde Slayer's resurrection, a week after she met with Angel again somewhere between Sunnydale and Los Angeles. As she sat on the bed in the barracks, and looked at the wall, Buffy's grip on the Scythe tightened as she recalled reading the newspaper headline the day after she met with the ensouled vampire.

'Suspected terrorist bombing levels Hyperion Hotel' read Buffy with her eyes opened wide in shock as she ran past Dawn and into the living room where she picked up a phone and called Angel Investigations. Buffy remembered the feeling in her chest, she remembered her heart pounding when there was no signal going through to Angel, or Cordelia's cell phones. It was Dawn who quietly came up behind the Slayer and put her hand on the blonde's shoulder before telling her gently that they found bodies.

"They've identified them, Buffy" said Dawn as Buffy turned around with tears in her eyes and looked at her sister, "Cordelia Chase, Charles Gunn and… and various others identified… I mean they didn't say anything about Angel but… I mean…"

"He's gone" said Buffy in a broken voice as she fell onto her knees, as did Dawn, "I can always feel him, Dawnie.. but now… now I can't. I.. I thought I was just imagining things but… he's gone. Angel's gone, Cordy's gone."

"Buffy?" said a voice as the older Slayer wiped her eyes, and stood up before looking at the source of the voice, "you alright?"

"Kennedy" said Buffy as she looked at her second-in-command. Looking at Kennedy, Buffy shook her head as she imagined Faith standing there. The Faith who stayed back in the high school when they opened the Hellmouth so that the others could escape.

It was the previous night that Buffy had a crazy idea to activate every Slayer on Earth to help fight the First. The next day, Buffy and the others were in the Hellmouth under Sunnydale High for the battle of their lives, and eventually the numbers of what Giles called the Turok-Han vampires were just too much.

Buffy saw six girls die that day alone.

As Buffy stared at Kennedy, she remembered the stab wound in her abdomen received from one of the Turok-Han vampires, she remembered getting a second wind after the First taunted her; but it didn't last long. The numbers of Turok-Han vampires coming their way increased before she ordered a full on retreat. She knew that the other girls needed to be saved, and that they needed a new plan. Holding on to her abdomen, Buffy was pushed by Faith up a set of stairs. She knew that there were some Slayers fight the agents of the First, the Bringers, and she hoped that the other newly activated Slayers were told to retreat. As she and Faith ran out of the hole over the Hellmouth, they looked back at two, and then three, and then even more Turok-Han vampires coming out and heading towards them. The two senior Slayers ran as fast as they could through the basement of the school.

"Come on, B!" shouted Faith as the both of them headed up the stairs to the main floor of the school, the sounds of the Turok-Han close behind them.

Buffy remembered Faith helping her through the doors into a large hallway. At the end she could see the former principle of Sunnydale High, Robin Wood, signalling at them to run as fast as possible. As they headed through the hallway, they passed one of four intersecting hallways where she heard the sounds of metal against metal. Buffy recalled telling Faith that there were Layers trapped, and that the both of them needed to get them out. Shaking her head, Faith told Buffy to go to Robin and get into the school bus outside. She'll get the other Slayers out through the side entrance. She told Buffy that it was sunlight out, and that the Turok-Han won't be coming after the escaped Slayers.

"No" said Buffy shaking her head before the both of them turned around at the snarls of the Turok-Han vampires coming closer."

"We'll be outside, go…. The girls need you, B…. go!" exclaimed Faith as she pushed Buffy before heading into the adjoining hallway. Buffy ran towards Robin before she looked behind her as the Turok-Han vampires broke through the stair well door. Some ran towards her while the others ran in the direction Faith had gone. Buffy ran harder, and faster before reaching Robin who reached out for the Slayer and pulled her out into the sunlight. Taking some steps back while panting, Buffy glared at the Turok-Han who were looking back at her from inside the school; unable to come out into the open because of the sun. However, in the midst of the increasing Turok-Han, Buffy caught a glimpse of the First in her form as she stood with its arms folded over its chest, smiling at the blonde Slayer.

It was a few minutes later as Buffy stood glaring at the Turok-Han while hoping that Faith made it out of there with the remaining Slayers towards her, that she saw movement from the corner of her eye. Turning around, she ran towards the three Slayers who had tears in their eyes with Robin, as well as Xander and Dawn who until now were waiting in the yellow school bus.

"Where's Faith?" said the blonde Slayer as one of the new Slayer broke down and shook her head. The others told Buffy that Faith pushed them into a classroom before ordering them to break the windows and get out into the sunlight. They broke the windows and were climbing out when the Turok-han smashed the door open and poured in. Another of the rescued Slayers told Buffy that Faith was the last to leave, but the Turok-Han grabbed her before she was able to climb out .

"We tried to pull her out, we really did" said one of the Slayers as she avoided looking at Buffy, "the Turok-Han were pulling her inside, taking us with her. She told us to let go, and leave.. and… and…"

"She told us to get some sweet ass revenge" said another of the three rescued Slayers, "we… we saw her fall onto the floor and…. Buffy? She fought… she told us to leave and she continued to fight until… until she was overwhelmed. I.. I saw… I saw four of them bite her and… I'm sorry…"

"She didn't scream" said another Slayer as Xander and Dawn led them back into the bus, "she never screamed."

Buffy stood in shock while Robin looked at her before the blonde Slayer turned around again and looked at the First who was smiling at her from witin the mass of Turok-Han vampires. However, this time the First took on the form of Faith as it smiled, and then started laughing.

It was then confirmed to Buffy that the sixth Slayer fell.

It was later that night that Buffy alone went out under the cover of darkness back to the school. She saw the six Slayers gutted, and then impaled on six different stakes. She looked at the one who she always thought off as an enemy; and in recent days, one of her biggest allies. Buffy could only look at the body of Faith before apologizing and heading away from the school in defeat.

And now, shaking that image off her mind, Buffy looked at Kennedy who was looking back at her confused, "I.. listen… something's happened. I need all remaining Slayers out there right now. The Three sent about fifty demons and… and well, we've got another Willow out there."

"Excuse me?" asked Kennedy with her eyes wide open.

"We can talk about that later" said Buffy, "I need Slayers in a defensive formation. The towers and the tanks will try and take out most of what's out there, we've got limited ammo so… so make sure that every Slayer is armed with something sharp. Get with Xander, and Robin… go… move."

"Yeah" said Kennedy as she turned and told the other Slayers in the barracks to gear up. Buffy watched Kennedy move out as she sighed. She watched the remaining Slayers rush out the door, and looked at the empty barracks at the ghosts of all the Slayers who died the day hell came to Sunnydale, and then the world.

"Hey, B" said Faith who appeared in front of Buffy in a bright flash of light as the blonde Slayer stepped back and raised the Scythe. Buffy then screamed and ran forwards, swinging the weapon as Faith ducked, and then rolled back before getting into a defensive stance. She then ran towards Buffy and delivered a punch which the blonde blocked. Buffy then pushed the First back before knocking her back with a kick. Buffy then went on the defensive as the First, in Faith's body, came at her and came to blows which one hitting the other hard. It was a few seconds later that Faith knocked Buffy back down onto the floor and stepped back with a smile, "is that how you welcome an old friend?"

"You're the First" said Buffy as she stood up slowly and held out her Scythe in front of her, "you're not Faith."

"Come on, B" said the First, "you know I'm on here, or is there someone else you wanna see?"

"Come to gloat?" asked Buffy changing the subject, as she got the Scythe ready.

"You're finished, B" said Faith who stepped towards Buffy as the blonde Slayer swung the Scythe through the body of the First as it started to jump up and down laughing in Faith's body, "I can't believe you did that.. again. Come on, B… I'm not really here. You know where I am… so come and get me."

Buffy just looked at Faith with anger in her eyes as she brought the Scythe to her side and just stood facing the First.

"You know where I am, Slayer" said the First as it took Buffy's form, "this little mudball belongs to me. You know the things coming to you now? It's nothing, compared to what I have waiting. The Three wanted to have some fun with you, dwindle your ranks… even the other Willow won't do anything, actually can't do anything."

"What…" asked Buffy.

"Go outside and see, Slayer" said the First, "you'll see why more than three quarters of you will fall today. Then it's my turn to finish you off. It's fitting really, you're the one who brought me back into this world. Thanks to you opening the Hellmouth on a self-righteous quest to finish me off, it brought me my physical body. Complete with all the memories and abilities of everyone you know."

"We have two very powerful witches" said Buffy, "you're done."

"You mean Harkness and Amy?" asked the First, "or are you putting all your hopes in the two Willow's?"

The First smiled at Buffy and told her that she had no hope of winning, that she will die screaming at the end of all things. Before Buffy could saw anything, the First vanished.

Suddenly, the klaxons in the barracks started to blare as Buffy ran out into the open and looked out into the distance. Her eyes wide open at what she was looking at, Buffy ran to the communications building where General Landry and Giles were still standing behind Riley, who was trying to tune the radio once again. Turning around they told Buffy that they were wrong; that more than a hundred demons of all types were coming down on them.

"And the other Willow?" asked Buffy.

"I don't know how she's going to make it through" said General Landry as he looked to his right and asked one of the officers to have everyone get to battle stations, "have Dr. Lam and the other medical staff prepare for any injuries."

Nodding his head, the officer rushed past Buffy and went out the door. It was then that Willow magically contacted Buffy, General Landry and Giles through telepathy. She told them that a shield was ready, but they wouldn't be able to hold for long.

"We have to hope that the mine field around the base can take most of them out" said General Landry before telling Buffy to get the other Slayer's ready. With the minefield being in between two electrified, and razor wired, fences that surrounded the base that ran on its own generator, they had managed to keep a hold on the area for the last six months.

It's been like that ever since the Hellmouth opened, ever since every single Hellmouth on Earth opened.

Buffy nodded her head before she headed out of the building, and looked at the hundreds of demons that were snarling and growling in the distance coming towards them.

'The end of the world' thought Buffy to herself as a light breeze rushed past the scar on her cheek, 'this is my fault.'

 **Sunnydale, 1415 hours**

Major Willow was heading towards the army base using some of the smaller roads since she was afraid that the demons that she heard was heading to the Army base would take the main streets out of the city. As she rode down another smaller street, she stopped at the small sign that told her she was heading to the Army base and stopped. She looked up as the sky started to get dark red, and in between the red clouds she saw green lighting jumping from one cloud to another. She saw a few even striking the ground.

Shaking her head, Willow continued to ride as the green around her eventually turned to brown. Looking around as she rode on the motorcycle, she saw that the direction of the Army base was barren; where there used to be live trees, everything was now dead. Stopping again, Willow looked behind her and noticed the trees, they were already brown in colour while others were still green,

'Nearly dead' thought Willow to herself as she continued to ride the motorcycle. Soon she was at an intersection, and she could feel the ground under her trembling, while at the same time she heard sounds of weapons fire, and demonic screams in the distance.

"Major Rosenberg to Army Base" said Willow as she started to move towards the sound, "what's your situation?"

There was no answer as Willow opened up her throttle and rode faster down the main road to the base.

"Major Rosenberg to anyone listening" said Willow on the radio as she made a turn past some buildings and then suddenly stopped, and looked in shock. She could see hundreds of demons in various sizes coming up on the base as weapon emplacements fired tracer rounds, tanks at the only entrance fired their shells into the mass of demons that where coming towards them. The redhead then saw some of the demons breaking off and heading towards the north side of the Army Base. She then spun her back wheel before taking off at full speed towards the breakaway demons, "Sunnydale Base, you have demons coming to the north side, I repeat.. Demons have broken off and are heading to your north side!"

Willow sped on before she got onto the bumpy terrain and after the demons. She glanced at the larger pool of demons that were slowly being taken down by weapons fire. Smiling, she then saw the other demons that were already at the fence when they were knocked back by a flashing yellow force field.

"Magic" said Major Willow to herself as she stopped and hurriedly got off the motorcycle. She took off the Zat from her holster, brought it up and fired shots at the demons who were getting up from having been knocked away by the force field. After they were disintegrated, Willow saw a few more heading towards her which she took down after multiple shots of the blue energy beam.

"You can't keep that up forever" said a familiar voice as Willow turned around and looked at Buffy who was wearing a purple shirt, and cream trousers, "you're not like the Willow here, are you? You have a choice, I'll grant you safe passage out of here so that you can go back to whatever reality you came from, or if you decide to stay here and fight… you'll die with the rest of them."

"Who are you?" asked Willow as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, She turned and raised her Zat against the six demons coming towards her. However, they suddenly stopped and took a few steps back while growling at Willow. The redhead then turned back and looked at Buffy while at the same time having taken out her sidearm, and held it in her right hand. Major Willow saw that Buffy was looking behind the redhead with her hand up, before she smiled and then looked at the redhead.

"Curious, I don't exist in your reality?" as Buffy as she walked around the Major, who in turn continued to look at Buffy while the sounds of exploding shells, and weapons fire, continued in the background.

"I wouldn't know" said Willow as she faced the demons again, raised the weapons and fired on them until they were dead before turning back to Buffy, "Buffy's the one who handles that in my reality, and I take it that you're not her? You know… with the whole 'queen of demons' thing?"

"I'm the First."

"The First what?"

"Evil."

"Huh?"

"The First Evil" said Buffy, "I was there long before anything else existed, I was there before the word was ever spoken, I was…"

"O..k" said Major Willow, "long speech?"

The First could only smile at Willow as she took Tara's form. She raised her hand as the Major found herself flying backwards until she hit the ground a few feet away. Slowly getting up from the lifeless ground, the Major slowly stood up as the First, in Tara's form, walked towards the Major.

"Hey, Baby" said the First, "can I just kiss you now?"

"Yeah, we're not together in my reality" said Willow as she ran to her bike, but was pushed away again by the First and fell onto the ground, "ouch."

"Interesting" said the First in Tara's form as she headed towards the Major who was slowly getting up. The major saw that she dropped her Zat, and her firearm, and rushed towards them before she turned and fired. However, all that happened was the beam hit the Faith and crackled around her harmlessly, while the rounds scored direct hits on its chest, but the wounds quickly closed up.

"Ok" said Willow as she stood up and faced the First, "interesting."

"As I was saying" said Tara as she walked around Willow with her hands behind her, "you leave for your own reality, and I leave you alone. You get free passage. You stay, you be the first to die."

"I need these people to help me get back home" said the Major as she looked at the First while she put her sidearm, with its empty magazine, back into it's holster while still holding onto the Zat, "they're my only way home. How about this, this isn't my reality…. so you stop this attack. Wait for me to leave, and then you can kill everyone here."

"No" said the First.

"This isn't my war" said the Major, "but I need them to get home. I don't know how you became Tara, or Buffy… but you need to know that all I want to do is go home. Like I said, I have my own war to fight. So please, just hold off. Tell me use them and…."

"Then you die" said Tara as she pointed into the distance. Willow turned and saw even more demons coming as they edged towards the base which continued firing rounds, while the tank shelling stopped. She then saw, before hearing the screams of girls, as they ran towards the demons while the weapons from the emplacements provided covering fire, "my subjects have risen. The Three will have their day today… I will kill of the rest, including Buffy at another time. But you… you die today. Nothing can stop what's going to happen, nothing. The human race is finished, they will serve me."

"Not yet" said Willow shaking her head, suddenly having come up with a crazy idea as long as the base had what she needed while the First, who was still, in Tara's form smiled, "like I said, I need the help of these people to get home. This isn't my fight, or my war, but I will do everything I can to stop this wave. And then… then I will ask them for a way to get home. Once I find a way, I'm gone… you continue this attack, and I will stop this, and only this, attack. And it's going to be bad for you."

"No" said the First.

"I warned you" said Major Willow as she turned and ran as fast as she could.

"There over hundred and fifty demons out there" said Tara as she shouted at a retreating Willow who was running towards the motorcycle, "you will die!"

Willow turned the motorcycle and headed back to the front of the base as she rode behind the tanks that had already stopped firing. From between two tanks, Major Willow took out her binoculars and saw Buffy and various other girls fighting the demons, however she could see that they were being overrun; even with the covering fire.

"This is Major Rosenberg to anyone on the base" shouted Willow into her radio before she headed towards Buffy who was on the ground as a demon was about to stamp it's foot down on her. Willow raised her Zat and fired on the demon as it fell onto the ground as a surprised Buffy looked back over her shoulder as she stood back up.

"Buff" said Willow as she stopped the bike, "I know you got a lot of questions but I need you and the other girls out of here."

"Will" said Buffy shaking her head, still in disbelieve in regards to who she was seeing, "why…"

"Trust me" said Major Willow as she turned her bike around, "tell all your girls to run; run fast and hard back to the base. Now!"

Willow left a surprised Buffy who then called all her Slayers back to the base. As she saw the other Willow heading into the base, Buffy heard a scream behind her. Turning around, she saw one of the Slayers from Hong Kong in danger, so the blonde picked up the fallen Scythe and ran towards her, cutting off the demons head before starting their retreat.

Back in the base, the Major charged into the secured inner area as the soldier inside raised their weapons at the redhead, surprised at how she looked like the resident Witch that was in their midst.

"I need to talk to General Landry, now! Move!" said Major Willow as she got off the bike and raised her hands, her Zat still in one hand, "do it now, or else we are all dead."

"Major!" shouted General Landry as he ran towards the redhead in the tactical gear, "did you tell Miss Summers and the others to get back? What the hell are you…"

"Sir" said the Major as she looked back and saw the demons stopped their advance as Buffy and the others ran back into the safety of the base. Willow then turned back around again and asked the General if there were any rocket launchers with high explosive cartridges on base.

"Yes" said the General confused.

"Sir" said Willow as she looked at the General while noticing that a very surprised Kennedy was looking at her, "I don't have time to explain, but…"

Willow brought her hands down and deactivated her Zat. She remembered how, after they had rescued the then Major Sam Carter from the replicators, and after Colonel O'Neill's promotion to General that Willow had begun taking apart some of the Zats, and Jaffa Staff weapons to see how they worked. Using what she learned, Willow pressed a hidden button as the entire top part of the weapon fell off revealing its internals. She then reached down and carefully took out a tube that was half filled with yellow liquid; the weaponized naquada that was used to power the Zat.

"This is… sir… I can explain later" said the Major as she looked at the yellow liquid, and then at the General again, "but we really don't have time right now."

"Sergeant!" shouted the General as he pointed at one of the men who was pointing a weapon at Major Willow, who was looking at Buffy, Kennedy and some of the other girls who were looking back at her. She heard the General tell everyone to put their weapons down before telling the sergeant from earlier to take someone with him and return with one of the Anti-personnel RPG's.

Major Willow noticed that Giles was looking at her and was about to ask her something when the Major noticed movement from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, the Major saw her alternate who had just come out of a building with an older woman, and someone who seemed at awful lot like Amy Madison.

'Yeah' thought the Major to herself, 'that's Amy.'

The Major saw her alternate heading towards her just as two soldiers returned with a large box carrying the RPG, and it's launcher. Willow got on her knees and opened the box as she saw more movement from the corner of her eye. Looking to her left, and behind some of the girls who were gathered around her and whispering among themselves, she saw a shocked Xander who had a patch over his left eye. He then started to run towards the small group with a dark skinned man she didn't recognize.

Shaking her head, Willow turned her attention back to the rocket launcher as she carefully took it out of its wooden crate. She then carefully placed it on the floor and took out the rocket itself. Sensing that she was being stared at, the Major looked up and asked everyone to turn off all electronics on base. She then looked at the General and suggested that all the tanks be brought into the base, and turned off so that the coming electromagnetic pulse wouldn't fry any of the base, or weapon, circuitry.

"Do it" said the General as one of the soldiers ran outside and told the drivers of the tanks to head back into the base, while Buffy told some of the girls to help the soldiers turn everything off.

It was then that one of the remaining girls noticed that the demons were just standing there as, one by one, the tanks headed back into the base.

"They're not coming?" she asked.

"Probably wondering what the hell we're doing?" said another girl who shrugged her shoulders as the Major looked up at her, and then at her doppelganger who was running towards them. She then carefully placed the rocket casing onto the ground, and looked up at the people around her. Stopping as she noticed one of the soldiers chewing, the Major held her hand out and told him to give her the chewing gum. It was then that everyone heard the growling and the snarls again, as the ground started to shake once more.

"What are you doing, Major?" asked the General as her alternate ran up to stand at his side.

"I" said the Major as she carefully placed the gum on the explosive in the rocket, and then attached the vial of weapons grade liquid naquada alongside it, "I'm creating a crude, naquada bomb."

"A what?" asked Willow as the Major looked up and smiled.

"I take it you put up a shield?" asked the Major as Willow nodded her head, "can you make it stronger?"

"I think so, how strong?" asked Willow.

"I know that the explosion won't be that bad, but there could be a large shockwave coming this way; plus an EMP without the nuclear fallout" said the Major, "although I'm not sure if this even will work. It's very, very crude."

"Major" said the General as he looked back at the moving demons again, and then at Major Willow, "you telling me it's a nuclear device?"

Willow screwed the casing back on and loaded the racket back into the launcher and stood up while carrying it.

"No, sir" said the Major, "there should be a bright light, so…."

"What did you do?" asked Willow as she looked at her military doppelganger.

"You'll see" grinned the other redhead as she ran to the entrance of the base and fired the rocket into the mass of demons. She then dropped the launcher onto the ground as soon as she fired, and headed back into the base while shouting for everyone to prepare for impact.

The next thing anyone knew, there was a massive explosion outside the base. Everyone looked away from the bright light, but soon they were able to make out a massive fireball that rose into the sky. The General looked with his eyes wide open, as did the others, at the scale of the devastation outside as the demons in the direct zone of the blast were immediately incinerated. The others all had their insides turned into liquid by the massive shockwave that hit the shield that was already shining bright yellow as it kept out the force of the blast. Major Willow turned around and looked at her doppelganger, at the old woman and at Amy was they were brought to their knees by the force of the shockwave and the combined magical energy they needed to keep the shield up.

"Hey!" shouted Kennedy as the shield fell after the shockwave, and the blast, dissipated while pieces of demons fell back to Earth. Kennedy headed towards the Major as Buffy ran to Willow and helped her up while asking if she was alright. The Major looked at Kennedy who came up to her face and asked her what the hell she was doing.

"My job" said the Major as she walked past Kennedy and walked up to her doppelganger, "you alright?"

"Yeah" said Willow panting as she bent down to her knew, "gimme a few minutes."

The Major saw Amy, and the old woman panting as well before she looked at her alternate.

"Sorry" said the Major, "the explosion and shockwave was larger than…."

"So" shouted a voice behind the Major as she saw her doppelganger looking over her shoulder with eyes wide open. Major Willow turned around and saw Buffy, or the First, standing there with her hands behind her back while alternating looks between the group in the base, and the devastation outside it, "not bad. A new weapon that can destroy on a terrifying scale."

"We have something to beat you off with now" said Xander who was standing behind Willow who, along with everyone in the group, including the First, looked back at him, "seriously, now? I know that came out wrong."

"Doesn't matter" said the First as she grinned, "I take it you don't have any more of these?"

"Does it matter" said Major Willow, "I've already given you my terms. You didn't listen, hopefully you'll now let me do what I wanted to do in the first place."

The First could only smile before she vanished in a flash of light. The Major then turned around and looked at the people around her. In a way, she meant everything that she told the First about needed their help to get back to her own reality. She just hoped that even if General Landry didn't know about the Stargate, that at least some form of the SGC would exist. If not, then she'd be in big trouble.. especially with her alternate version in the mix.

"Sir" said the Major as she nodded at the General, "may I talk to you in private?"

"Major" said the General as he took a few steps towards the redhead in the military uniform and noticed the patches on her shoulder. He then looked back at the Major's face, and then looked back at his Willow before looking at the Air Force officer again.

"Alternate realities exist, General" said Willow as she approached the man, "in high school I brought a vampire version of myself."

"Skanky, leather wearing?" asked the Major as she raised an eyebrow while Willow nodded her head, "neat."

"Major" said the General as he interrupted something that his Willow was about to say, "you wanted to tell me something?"

"Sir" said the Major, "what I have to say requires beta level clearance or above… so…."

The Major looked at everyone around her, before looking at the General again who nodded his understanding of what she meant. The General turned and ordered everyone back to their duties, except for Buffy, Willow, Giles, Xander, Amy and the two people that the Major hadn't been introduced to yet.

"Sir" said Willow as everyone slowly started to leave while she walked next to the General, "I have a few questions of my own, what happened? Why is the sky red, and… and why is the city full of demons?"

"We'll share information, Major" said the General as he went through a door and into a large room where Riley was seated fixing a sparking radio. He then turned around and stood up straight when he saw the General. HE then looked at the redhead in tactical gear next to him and opened his mouth wide.

"Riley" said the Major.

"Will…. I mean, ma'am" said Riley as the General asked him to stand at ease while the Willow of this reality looked at Buffy and grinned at Riley's nervousness.

"Major" said the General as the group, including Riley stood in front of her, "please.. begin."

"I need some background, sir" said Willow, "do we have a computer with an internet connection available?"

"The net's down" said Willow and the Major looked at her in surprise. Buffy then went to say that the electrical grid was down in many places, that the demons had destroyed nearly everything out there, and that the base was running on several generators for the past few months. She told the Major that they would have raiding parties when the sky would be enough for them to see, and keep out most of the more dangerous demons, so that they could take whatever fuel was left in the city.

"How long?" asked the Major.

"Six months" said Buffy as she looked out into space, "six months since the world ended."

"So, no internet" said Willow as she turned to look at the General as a bad feeling grew in her gut. She knew that if the SGC did exist in this reality, then the Asgard would have been called for help at a time like this. And if they weren't here that that would mean that there was no SGC, and that the Major had to find another way back. She just hoped that the Stargates, and the Ancient outposts existed. But she needed some more information, "sir, I don't know if you know him.. but have you heard of a Jack O'Neill?"

"Yes" said the General, "he died some time ago, suicide."

"Damn" said Willow as she leaned on the table that held the radio behind her a bad feeling in her gut started to grow. She knew that in her reality, the Colonel was sent on the first Abydos mission before he tried to commit suicide again. That it was that particular mission that gave him a new lease on life, now she needed to know about the next important person in her SGC life, "how about Samantha Carter?"

"You know Sam Carter?" asked Willow excitedly as the Major looked at her.

"Yea" said the Major, "you know her?"

"I heard of her, I mean her theories on Astrophysics are still the best and, well… she's an astronaut now. At least she's what she always wanted to be, you know… how's she like in your reality?"

"Miss Rosenberg" said the General as Willow looked back at him and mouthed a sorry, "another time, perhaps?"

Willow nodded her head before looking at her alternate self who told the redhead that they'll talk soon.

"Lt. Colonel Carter's on the International Space Station" said the General, "she was supposed to be up there for a year with two other American's, and one Cosmonaut. It's already been a month since that year was over. Before SPACECOM and Houston went dark, they were ordered to stay up there… that it was too dangerous on Earth."

"Supplies?" asked Willow with her eyes wide open.

"Their rations will run out soon" said the General, "nothing we can do."

"Sir" said Willow before she took a deep breathe, "something you should know; it's big."

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sunnydale Army Base, 1500 hours.**

Major Willow unclipped her P90, and set in on the table behind her before taking off her vest and placing that on the table as well. She then leaned against the table and looked at the alternate versions of her friends and co-workers, who themselves were looking back at her. She saw that everyone was exhausted, Buffy had a scar on her cheek, Giles' arm was in a sling; at least those were the injuries that she could see. There were glaring omissions to the group though, omissions that the Major immediately realized.

'Where's Dawn, Tara, Anya, Faith, Spike, Angel, and the others?" thought Major Willow to herself.

The Major then looked at Buffy and was about to open her mouth when she opened her eyes wide at the object the blonde Slayer was holding in her hand; a curved blade that was accented with red paint, a long handle that had a wooden stake at the end, 'it's the weapon I, or rather, my counterpart made for Sineya. Buffy found it.'

"Major" said General Landry as he brought the Major Willow out of her thoughts.

Shaking her head, Willow then looked at the General and nodded her head as he asked her to continue with what she wanted to say.

"Sir, Buffy, guys, umm…. Even the ones I haven't met" said the Major as she saw the older woman smile and shake her head.

"My apologies, it was very rude of us" said the older woman as she nodded her head at the Major while speaking in an English accent, "my name is Agatha Harkness, I am one of the members of the Devon Coven."

"Robin Wood" said the dark skinned man as Willow nodded her head at him, "and you…"

"I'm guessing you know me" said the Major as she looked at her counterpart, "I'm a Major in the U.S Air Force and I work for a classified project under NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain."

"We've lost contact with NORAD" said General Landry, "but when it was up, we didn't have any projects running out of there, especially concerning experimental weapons."

"No, Sir" said Willow, "I'd guess not… umm… before I continue.. what's with Tara attacking me outside the base? I mean I shot her with my sidearm and… guys? Another thing, why did she transform into Buffy when… well, Buffy's right there?"

The Major noticed her alternate looking at Buffy, Xander and then Giles, and Kennedy before looking back at her. She could see that the other redhead was slightly distressed as her lower lip started to tremble before Kennedy rushed to her side and held her hand.

"I'm sorry" said the Major, "I shot her, but she healed up. The Tara I know never displayed any abilities like that.. I mean.."

"Tara's alive?" asked Willow as she stepped forward inadvertently shrugging off Kennedy who frowned as she saw the redhead take another step towards her counterpart. Kennedy loved Willow, but the spectre of Tara was always there in their relationship. And now, to have some indication that Tara was still alive somewhere made her feel as if Willow was never invested in her, despite the redhead telling Kennedy that the Slayer was her rock.

'Stop it' thought Kennedy to herself, 'she and Tara were unique, at least that's what Dawn told me. She'll always have a place in her heart for that witch, doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings for you.'

"Yea, she's alive in my reality" said the Major as Willow smiled, looked back at Willow who gave a small smile before looking at the Major again, "she's actually dating Kennedy."

"Oh" said Willow as she turned and looked at a surprised Kennedy, before looking at the Major again.

"Ummm… back to the Tara – Buffy combo?"

"It… it wasn't, Tara" said Willow as her face showed her disappointment at the revelation that in another reality, Tara wasn't with a copy of her. Willow believed that what she and Tara had was so special that it would be the same anywhere, in any life, and in any time. But upon hearing that it wasn't the case saddened her.

"Willow?" said Kennedy as she rushed to the redhead as the Major looked on. The Slayer reached the red witch and held her hand before Willow shook her head and smiled at Kennedy. Willow then told the military version of herself that Tara died nearly two years ago.

"Huh?" said the Major confused as Kennedy led Willow back to the group, leaving a gap between them, and Major Willow, "that doesn't make sense. She threw me around using magic and…"

"Major" said General Landry, "I don't know how things are in your reality but, things are really dicey here. I really don't know how we can help you to be honest, and… and I'm hoping that you could help us with those weapons. Naquada bombs was it?"

"Sir" said the Major as she thought of something, "can this Tara-Buffy mash up hear us? I mean she was there one second when my back was turned and I know there wasn't anyone behind me. Then just now she was in the base before she was gone… so… can she hear us? Or see us?"

"I've tried to place wards and Charms around the base with Amy, and Miss Harkness" said Willow as she looked at the Major, and then at the two women next to her, "works for some time, but the First always manages to get through."

"Yeah, that's what the Tara-Buffy mash up called itself" said the Major, 'the First Evil, whatever that is."

"It's the first evil, Willow" said Giles as the Major looked at him with her eyes narrowed, "there's evil, and there's the thing that created evil. This is it."

"Hold on" said Willow as she put her hands up as she looked at everyone, "you mean this thing claims to be the thing that created all evil?"

"It doesn't claim, Willow.. that's exactly what it is" said Giles, "it has endless resources at its disposal Willow, it's had thousands of years to plan… and now, it's plan has come to fruition. The end of the Slayer line, the end of the world, and the beginning of a new demonic age."

"First of all" said the Major shaking her head in disbelief, "I don't believe in anything that calls itself the first of anything, and.. and what do you mean by the end of the Slayer line? Demonic age?"

"You don't know about this?" asked Giles as he looked at the Major who was shaking her head.

Giles and the others then listened about how the Major left Sunnydale to join the Air Force Academy; and how during her time there, Buffy and the Scoobies were fighting against a demon lord called Balthazar. She told them that Buffy said the school was destroyed, Potential Slayers and witches died in defeating the demon lord. Giles then told Willow about how the first was using its agents to kill Potential Slayers around the world in a bid to destroy the Slayer line for all time.

Xander then went on to say that to protect the Potentials, and defeat the First Evil.. they decided to do something crazy.

"I activated all the Slayers" said Willow as the Major looked at her in surprise, "the First was incorporeal at first, which is why it used agents to kill Potential Slayers around the world."

"Even the Watchers… ne of the agents bombed the Watchers Council headquarters" said Giles, "everyone was leaving Sunnydale except the military, they were told to stay here and…. and we failed. The First realized that Buffy had allies who could come to her when called, so it used another one of it's agents to destroy the Hyperion Hotel in Los Angeles."

"Wait" said the Major in shock, "Angel? Cordelia?"

"Dead" said Buffy softly, "it knew that Angel was a champion, so he was the first to go. Later on, it killed Spike."

"Why Spike?" asked the Major.

"He got his soul back" said Buffy softly as she looked at the floor, and then at the Major, "the First said that it tortured him, tricked him, and then killed him. But before it did…. It used his blood to open the Hellmouth and… and bring out something. At the same time its Bringers attacked Potential Slayers around the world, then… like Giles said, another agent destroyed the Watcher's Council. Every Potential then started to come to Sunnydale to fight the First because… who else… where else would they go?"

"You didn't ask for help" said the Major as she looked at Buffy in disbelief.

"We've had bad experiences" said Xander, "trust me."

The Major was still processing all of this information as Giles continued to say that eventually, Buffy found a way to meet the Shadow Men.. the ones who created the Slayer. At the mention of the Shadow Men, the Major looked at Giles with her hands turned into fists.

Willow noticed the Major's reaction at the mention of the Shadow men, and she then looked at Harkness and Amy to confirm that they had the same feelings of anger that she felt coming from her. The nods from Amy and Harkness confirmed her feelings before she looked at her alternate self once again.

Buffy then said that the agent who destroyed the Council, an evil priest called Caleb, taunted her by nearly killing a Potential Slayer and leaving her on the road to be found by Willow, and Faith. She said that he gave the Potential a message to be sent to the Slayer, that he has something of hers… something precious.

"That?" asked the Major as she pointed at the weapon Buffy was holding, who nodded her head in return.

"We went on the attack to get whatever it was… I mean we didn't know at that time… we wanted to get it back" said Xander as Buffy hung her head in shame.

"Xander lost his eye in that battle" said Buffy softly, "two Potentials died. We went back home defeated. I made the choice to head back the next day alone and surprise Caleb.. and that's when I found it. It… it feels like it's…."

"Yours?" asked the Major as Buffy looked at her.

"Yea" said Buffy confused as she looked at Kennedy who narrowed her eyes at the Major, before looking at the military version of her best friend, "how did you know?"

"What happened then?" asked the Major ignoring Buffy's question. Shaking her head, Buffy then went on to tell the Major that she met a woman who told her that the weapon was powerful, and it would help her fight back the coming darkness.

"She said that she was a Guardian" said Buffy as Willow stepped back slightly while opening her eyes wide.

"Once of them?" asked the Major, "there was only one?"

"Yea" said Buffy shaking her head again, "what do you mean only one? Look, she said that she was the last one, so I'm guessing that there were more.. but how did you know?"

"Major?" asked General Landry, "we've given you some information, now it's your turn… where can we find more of those weapons?"

"Sir" said Major Willow looking at the General while holding her hands up, "I swear I'll tell you everything but I need to know what happened here."

The Major, before General Landry could answer, turned to look at Buffy again and told her to continue. However, she told Buffy that she also needed to know where she got that weapon from, but they could discuss that later on. Nodding her head while General Landry frowned, Buffy told Willow that she came up with the idea to activate all Slayers after the First taunted her again. She said that her Willow used her magic to share her Slayer abilities with everyone, and then they made a pre-emptive strike.

"We opened the Hellmouth" said Buffy as the Major shook her head in disbelief at what she was hearing, "we had maybe forty Slayers in the Hellmouth, the others were on the surface to beat back the Bringers and the Turok-Han."

"The who now?" asked the Major.

"Ancient vampires, Willow" said Giles, "the first used Spike's blood to open the seal covering the Hellmouth to release one and sent it after Buffy. The First killed him after that."

"We were pushed back… the Turok-Han were too many and… and…." said Buffy as she hung her head again while Willow held on to her shoulder, and Kennedy held her arm in support, "we lost Anya, and six Slayers, including Faith and.."

"Fa.. Faith? Wait, you're saying that Faith is dead?" asked the Major as she closed her eyes and took in some deep breaths before she started pacing and she combed her hand through her hair in disbelief upon finding herself in a nightmare scenario. She reminded herself that this wasn't her Faith, that this Faith was an alternate version of her wife. But despite everything she knew, Major Willow still felt a pain in her heart. She then looked at Buffy again and asked her to continue.

Hesitating as she looked at her Willow who shrugged her shoulders, Buffy then continued to say that the Scoobies retreated back to the house where they regrouped. They continued to use it as a base of operations for a few days until it was hit hard by a variety of demons and the Turok-Han.

 **Summers Residence, 1900 hours; four days after opening of the Hellmouth; seven months ago.**

The First finally launched a direct attack on the Summers Household, the home of the Surviving Slayers and Scoobies from the Battle in the Hellmouth. Twenty demons destroying cars and houses while fighting on the front lawn, and fourteen Turok-Han vampires all conversing in one place to finally beat every single Slayer that remained. The First walked calmly through the street in Buffy's form whistling as it heard the sounds of crashing, and crunching by her subjects. She walked past the destruction with her hands folded over her chest until she reach the front lawn of the Summers house. She then placed her hands by her side as she looked at what was happening.

She saw that Slayers where fighting demons with swords, stakes, and whatever sharp pointed object then could find. The First knew that the Turok-Han vampires were in the backyard fighting Buffy and the other Slayers.. she knew that they were trying to create a way out of there, a way to escape.

'Exactly what I wanted' thought the First with a smile, 'give you a little bit of hope, and then take it away from you one piece at a time.'

The First heard a scrunching sound that was music to her years as she saw a demon tear a Slayer in half before three more killed it. IN turn, they were then attacked by another two demons as they were quickly taken down with one having her head twisted back and then thrown down onto the grass. The First laughed as another Slayer's head was ripped off with her body thrown against one of the trees in the lawn with a squelching sound, her head was then smashed onto the ground before the demon stepped on it. The First watched even more slayers fall as hordes of demons kept on coming, however… the First then gave the order for the demons to pull back.. that they had shown that they were the strong ones now.

'And we need to keep the fun alive' thought the First as its smile widened when it saw a target. She ordered the demons on the lawn to stop and then leave. The First grinned at her target as she walked past the Demons who were running past her and continued to destroy, and kill whoever remained in the surrounding neighbourhood. She walked past the bodies of the dead Slayers littered on the lawn as three more from inside the house, rushed out who help the brunette who was glaring at her to her feet.

"Dawn!" shouted one of the newly activated Slayers, "they're gone from inside the house…. Buffy needs you out of here… come on!."

"Dawnie" said the First as it took on Tara's form, "my sweet, sweet Dawnie. Where my lover? Why isn't she protecting you?"

"She.. she's got better things to do… like saving the Slayers" said Dawn as she held a sword in her left hand, while blood was dripping down from her right. She could see Tara walking up the stairs while smiling at the Slayers behind her. Dawn stepped back just as she heard sickening cracks from either side as the Slayers fell onto the ground dead. At that moment, Dawn's heart raced as the sound of blood rushing in her ears cancelled the shouts that she was hearing from inside the house by Xander and Willow, telling her that they were on the way. Knowing that there was no way she could take on the First evil by herself, Dawn followed Buffy's training and turned to run. Everything was in slow motion for her as she took her first step just as she was pulled backwards before she felt a vice like grip on the back of her neck. Dawn then saw Xander and Willow, the most powerful witch she knew, running towards her with their arms outstretched reaching for her before being thrown against the wall like a rag doll. Dawn wanted to scream, but found that she couldn't.

"Come on lover" said the First in Tara's body as she smiled at Willow who was already getting up; her eyes and hair a deep black with veins on her face as energy crackled throughout her body, "Willow, what did you do? You killed a man, Will… how could you? And look at you now, a slave to the darkness inside you… I'm so disappointed in you, my love."

"How. Dare. You. Take. Her. Face!" screamed Willow as she looked through a veil of darkness before she fired off a dark stream of energy that hit a shield put up by the First.

"You're worried about me" said the First as it smiled using Tara's body, "that's sweet. But you'll be hurting our little Dawnie if I put down this shield."

"Dawnie" said Willow coming to her senses as she suddenly stopped her blasts when she noticed the look of fear on the brunette's face. Willow hair and eyes changed back to their normal colour as the First laughed hysterically before firing a dark bolt at Willow who was knocked back against the wall before she fell onto the floor, moaning in pain.

"You're so weak, Willow… despite everything… despite the power inside you.. you're still so weak. Just a little scared little girl" grinned Tara as she headed towards the shouts in the backyard, "you see this face, and you let your feelings get in the way. You see Dawn in trouble, and you tell your feelings for the meat sack get in the way. You have no chance of beating me.. but good to see you try though. But enough of this."

As the First, in Tara's form, continued to walked past the unconscious forms of Willow and Xander, and a few other bodies of Slayers in the kitchen while holding out a squirming Dawn who was hanging in the air by the First's grip on the back of her neck. The First then stopped at the back door which was hanging by its hinges. It looked at the remaining Slayers fighting the Turok-Han and other demons. The First ordered them not to harm the Slayers in the backyard, it wanted to give them some hope in escaping with as many as they could… and then it would hit them again later on… and then again…. slowly dwindling their numbers until no Slayer remained; and it wanted Buffy for last. Buffy would be the one it strikes down in front of every demon, at the highest point of the castle of bones it would build. The First looked at Buffy fight with the scythe, and smiled at the hopelessness of her situation.

"Leave us" said the First as the Turok-Han vampires, and the demons, stopped fighting before retreating. Buffy, a bloody Giles, Robin, Kennedy and several other Slayers were panting as they looked around at the vampires and demons running away. They were about to congratulate themselves when Buffy turned around and dropped the scythe from her hand as her eyes opened wide at the First holding up Dawn by the back of her neck.

"Bu… Buffy" said Dawn as she looked at her sister while the First could only smile.

"Tara" said Giles, hoping against hope that they could reach out to something of the blonde witch that could have remained, "please… don't."

"Mr… Mr. Gi.. Giles" said the first as it mockingly stuttered as the real Tara, "I… I.. I'm not… not.. in here."

"Giles" said Buffy as she closed her fists, "get everyone out… go!"

"Buffy" said Giles.

"GO!" shouted Buffy as she turned back at Giles, and then back at the First.

Giles then turned around and told Kennedy to take the Slayers, and the other Scoobies, to the Army base, that they needed the military's help now. That they had no other choice.

"You may want to take my lover" said the First as it looked at Kennedy who glared back at it, "she's alive… don't worry. Before I kill her in this body.. I'll make sure she sees you get skinned alive. Oh, take the one eyed idiot with you."

"Kennedy, go" said Giles, "I'm staying here."

"Giles!" said Buffy, "I…"

"Go!" shouted Giles as he looked at Kennedy, "take Robin and the others to the Army base, go! Now!"

Kennedy relayed Buffy, and Giles', orders before running around the house with two other slayers and retrieving the still breathing bodies of Willow and Xander. In the meantime, Giles stood next to Buffy , who took a step forward and asked the First to let Dawn go.. and to take her instead.

"No" said the First as Dawn looked at her sister while squirming. However, the more she squirmed, the tighter the First held on to the back of her neck. She could see that Buffy's mouth was moving but no sounds could be heard coming out. It was then she noticed a hooded figure in a gold and white dress staring at her from the entryway into the backyard that was located behind Buffy. Where Dawn was once panicked, she suddenly felt a warmth go through her as she watched the figure look back at her with her hands at her side. Dawn saw her take a few steps closer as she walked past Buffy and Giles without them noticing, and then she walked up the stairs and stood in front of Dawn while the First continued to talk to Buffy. It was then that time sped up again as she heard the First tell Buffy that she and her friends would be allowed to leave Sunnydale, that she had to run… that she had to provide sport for the First and her demons.

Dawn heard the First taunt Buffy, but all the brunette could do was look at the hooded woman in front of her, unable to see her face, as she caressed the brunette's cheek.

"It is time" said the woman, "I will be here for you."

Dawn closed her eyes as she started to cry when she felt the First's grip on the back of her neck tighten. She opened her eyes to find the woman standing behind Buffy and Giles again. It was then that she heard a scream, a loud guttural scream as Buffy started to run towards her.

"Buffy?" said Dawn, the last words she ever spoke, as the blonde Slayer stopped running and screamed out loud just as Dawn opened her mouth wide and felt something rip through her body before everything went dark.

"No!" screamed Buffy as she grabbed her head while Giles, trying keep from crying at the sight of Tara's hand, now glistening with blood, through Dawn's chest, grabbed Buffy from the back and pulled her back away from the First, "I'll kill you… I'll kill you!"

"Sis" said the First as she took on Dawn's form before pulling back her fist from Dawn's body and throwing it at the Slayer's feet, "I'm all better now. Now, would you kill your own sister?"

"Buffy!" shouted Giles as he picked up the Scythe, "we need to go… now!"

"I'll kill you" said Buffy holding back her tears as she picked up the body of her dead sister, "I'll kill you."

"You can try, Slayer" said the First as it grinned in Dawn's body, "I'll be coming after you again. You activated all the Slayers? Good.. makes it easier for me. You'll feel what's coming, Buffy… you and Willow. Just know that you caused this… you did. Goodbye."

 **Sunnydale Army Base, 1545 hours.**

"And just like that, the First was gone" said Buffy after she, Giles, Willow and Xander gave their accounts of what happened at the Summers residence to a shocked Major Willow of the events that led them to the army base.

"We retreated" said Giles, "got out of Sunnydale as fast as we could and came here. Buffy carried Dawn al the way and…. and then the end came."

"The First opened all the hellmouths" said Harkness, "the Coven had visions so a few of us headed here to help. But we lost three who came with me in the last four battles. The main Coven is defended by powerful magiks and some Slayers have made their way there… but there is no way to know how long even we can hold on. The Earth is being poisoned, our power comes from the Earth itself and…"

"And it's dying" said Willow as she Major looked at her, "I can feel it, can't you?"

"I haven't performed magic in a long time.. so…"

"Miss Harkness is right" said Willow closing her eyes, unable to believe that in another reality, that she didn't practise magic. All the redhead could feel was drained as what was happening, what had seemed to be to her as hope started to be slowly ripped away, "I'm connected to the Earth and… and it's slowly dying…."

"Willow" said Giles as he looked at the Major, "the sky is red from the influx of dark mystical energy. It blocks the sunlight just enough that vampires could roam free, and when it gets darker… the more… more powerful demons come out. Cities started to fall within a month or so… billions died when every form of demons started to attack, and then when you count the Earthquakes, tsunami's… it's bad out there. There are those humans who were enslaved by demons, or used as livestock by vampires and other creatures that crave flesh and blood. And there are those who keep on fighting, connected by satellite phones since the radio is pretty spotty. Thankfully we met Hank a few days after coming on the base."

"I was in Santa Barbara visiting Carolyn" said the General as the Major looked at him, "I was retired when the whole mess started. I was given orders to report to the Sunnydale Army base… the government claimed that experts arrived at the base and they needed backup.. and I was the closest General in the area that could be reached."

"Is Dr. Lam alright?" asked the Major.

"Yes" said the General, "but she.. like many people, are still stunned at what happened."

"We didn't make any moves to fight back, sir?" asked the Major.

"Russia and China knew that Sunnydale was ground zero" said the General, "it was in all the media on reports of demons that were pouring out of Sunnydale. They launched a full scale nuclear strike to stop what was happening and…. And… and they failed. The nukes went through the red clouds and suffered some kind of an electrical surge. They fell back onto the ground harmlessly. The last I heard before communications with Moscow and Beijing were severed was that huge swathes of those countries were being overrun by demons. Russia, China and the U.S have fallen… Europe's fallen and taken over by demons. Our arsenal has been disabled by those same electrical surges while the missiles were still in their silos. Colonel Carter's been the one telling us the play by play… at least until the Los Angeles Air base, and NASA were taken out. Canada has gone dark, South America is gone….. demons everywhere now."

"Then came the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart" said Giles, "this is their apocalypse as well… we… we're out of options, Willow."

"Major" said the General, "you've heard the jist of what's happening, we need more of those weapons."

"I can't do much on my own" said Willow as she looked at the other two witches, "we can't do much on our own."

"You activated all the Slayers" said the Major, "if you could do that, then…."

"I don't have… I mean…"

"You do" said Kennedy as she looked at Willow, "she's right, you activated all the Slayers in the world, you're a goddess who…"

"Who killed those Slayers" said Willow as she looked at Kennedy, "their deaths are on my hands, Kennedy."

"What?" asked the Major as Willow turned and looked at her.

"THE First was going after Potentials… it took time to find them, and then go after them" said Willow, "but after I activated the Slayers? The First knew exactly where they were… the Bringers killed two thirds of all activated Slayers nearly two weeks after they were activated. And I felt each and every death… their blood is on me. Six hundred and forty Slayers… that's how many who died.. I felt their screams, I felt them die."

"All of them are gone?" asked the Major in shock.

"We sent a call out through the emergency broadcast system that all girls who suddenly felt a surge of power go through them should head immediately to the nearest military base for safety" said Giles, "where there used to be nearly eight hundred Slayers immediately after activation… there's only eighty around the world.. and they're still dying. But under the protection of the military, their survival improves.. but not by a lot. The line will be broken and…."

"And we lost" said Buffy, "Willow.. I mean my Willow's so traumatised by what happened that.. that she can only manage defensive spells while Amy and Agatha handles the offensive spells. You really haven't practised in years?"

"Yea" said the Major, "but I can tell you that there are powerful weapons, hidden weapons that are so powerful that it could be possible to clear the entire planet off the demons. But…"

"Then we use them" said the General, "where can we… hold on a minute, what powerful weapons? If you mean our nuclear arsenal, I told you that they've been launched.. but once they go through the clouds… there is an electrical discharge that destroys them. That same electrical charge disabled all our nuclear arsenal."

"These weapons are like nothing you've ever seen, sir" said the Major, "you need to understand, Sir that… that these weapons were created by a race that predates the demons that came to this dimension, it predates modern humans."

"Willow" said Giles, "that's not…."

"Let me tell you a story" said the Major, "a long, long time ago… in a galaxy far, far away."

"I know this story" said Xander as everyone looked at him, "I mean, come on.. that's like the beginning line to the greatest series of movies ever made."

"This isn't a movie, Xander" said the Major as Xander's smile vanished when he noticed how serious she looked, "there lived a race of advanced humans who were on an evolutionary path to ascension. And no, it's not the Mayor kind of ascension.. this is when you evolve to a point where there is no need for a physical body; instead you become a being of pure living energy."

"The Powers that Be" said Giles as he walked towards the redhead.

"No" said Willow shaking her head, "these aren't your Powers. This race of humans were called the Alterra. They had a philosophical split with their cousins and broke off before they wioped each other out. The ones who remained in the Alterran home galaxy become known as the Ori, and the rest of the Alterra fled. They travelled for thousands of years, over billions of light years, until they reached a great belt of stars that they called Avalon."

"The Milky Way?" asked General Landry as the Major nodded her head.

"The first planet that they used as a rest stop was a planet called Dakara" said the Major, "and from there they found a lush world that was already teeming with life."

"Earth" said Willow, "you mean Earth?"

"Yeah" said the Major as the other redhead walked towards her, "this was their home, the jewel of their civilization. And from here, they spread to the other planets through a series of advanced pieces of technology called Stargates; a device that creates an artificial subspace wormhole that connects one gate to another… instant transportation."

"No" said Willow with her eyes wide open as she walked towards the Major while the others just looked on at the two redheads, "the energy to create an artificial wormhole, and to keep it stabilized, and… I mean the power needed is… I can't even calculate that."

"We found the oldest Stargate on Earth" said the Major, "it's more than fifty five million years old, and we've been using it to make allies, and gain technology again an alien race that kidnapped humans from Earth and seeded them to other planets."

"Oh dear lord" said Giles.

"Giles" said the Major as she looked over her alternate's shoulder, "you once told me that the demons came here first, and then came human beings."

"Ye.. yes" said Giles.

"What if I told you that the Alterra were the first evolution of humanity" said Willow, "in my reality, you and a friend of mine are heading up a project that's charting the evolution of the planet. You and him are planning changing how people see themselves ….. We've got records of that time, and there were no records of demonic entities.. or vampires, or… or monsters."

What Willow didn't tell them was that she had to learn the history of the Alterra from the time the arrived of Earth, to the time they arrived in Pegasus during her time as Athena on Atlantis. And nowhere did it state that any creatures, be they demonic or humans, exist before the coming of the Alterra.

"Millions of years later, there was a plague that spread throughout the galaxy" said the Major, "the Alterra made allies with many powerful races, one of which was the Furlings. They were a race that looked like us, as did the Alterra, who came to the aid of the Alterra. You see, the plague had nearly killed over three quarters of the population of the galaxy. There are some who ascended, and the others who remained were helped by the Furlings, particularly a sect that practised magic."

"Wait" said Amy, "what?"

"They used mystical powers, combined with Alterran quantum technology… the same technology that they used to develop a device called a Quantum Mirror to create a large mirror that they connected to the Earth itself" said the Major as Willow looked back at Harkness who nodded her head before looking back at the Major again, "a quantum mirror opens doorways into alternate realities, but this mirror… the Alterra were hopeful that this mirror would help them discover a cure by opening not just one doorway… but hundreds of doorways into dimensions that exist within a particular reality. But it was a ruse, the Furlings.. or at least their mystical sects.. needed a way to increased their mastery of magic and.. well… they opened a doorway into dimensions where mystical energy poured into the Earth."

"A dimensional nexus" said Giles as he walked towards the Major, his legs trembling, "the Hellmouth…. You… you mean the Hellmouth?"

"Giles?"

"Rupert?"

"When the Alterra found that they were tricked, and that there really wasn't a cure for the plague" said Willow, "the remaining people who were alive left the Milky Way for another galaxy. But before they did, they set a weapon on Dakara on a delayed timer. It would release two waves… one to destroy the plague by killing of all life in the Milky Way."

"What energy?" asked Willow, "what energy?"

"It degrades matter to its base elements" said the Major, "and then another one to recreate life. They set up the device in such a way that human life would begin on Earth once again. But in the meantime… the entire galaxy was empty.. until…

"The Hellmouth" said Harkness as the Major nodded her head.

"We found an outpost in the Sunnydale dessert" said the Major, "it has records that go back millions of years when the Hellmouth was first opened. It showed massive energy bursts and power spikes years after the Alterra left the galaxy, power spikes that could only be caused by…"

"Demons" said Giles as he placed his hands on his head and looked at the Major, "my God, the Old Ones.. if.. if the Hellmouth is connected to the Earth then.. how about the others.. I mean.."

"The Furlings returned to the galaxy millions of years later" said Willow as she recalled her conversation with the Furlings the first time they tried to take Sineya away, "they fought the demons, while at the same time trained the early human's in advanced magic. Most of the demons were pushed back into their dimensions like my Giles used to tell me. But I guess the Furlings, at least the mystical sects, never learned their lesson… they opened more Hellmouth on Earth. They are powered by the Earth itself, and… and it can be closed by the Earth itself."

"Closed by the Earth?" asked Willow.

"It's something I heard" said the Major, not wanting to reveal that it was already in her own memories as Athena.

"You're talking about burying the Hellmouth" said Giles, "but.. but to do that."

"Destroy the city" said the General, "we need to drop Sunnydale on the Hellmouth… we need to do the same to the others but… we don't have the arsenal."

"The Alterra had powerful weapons to defend this planet, General" said the Major, "I hope it's the same in this reality, and.. and I hope that the Sunnydale Outpost exists."

"Why?" asked Kennedy.

"Because to operate those weapons" said the Major, "I need to get some power sources, and the only way to do that is to contact one of the allies we made in my reality, if they're not dead yet, through subspace and…"

"Subspace?" asked Willow, "really?"

"Yep" said the Major as she looked at her alternate.

"Can I go with you and…"

"Miss Rosenberg" said the General as he walked up to the redhead, "we need you here, we need the both of you here."

"Sir" said the Major as General Landry looked at her, "these weapons are powerful. I need to contact these allies not just for you, but for me. I can't stay here too long, or else I will die."

"Major?" asked General Landry as Giles looked at Willow.

"Are you sure?" asked Willow as she stepped towards the Major as Kennedy rushed to her side protectively, "it's supposed to be a theory."

"Willow?" asked Xander.

"Two of me in the same reality" said Willow as she looked back at Xander, and then back at the Major, "the theory is basically that she's an intruder into this universe, and the universe will try and kick her out. But it's not been proven or…"

"Entropic Cascade Failure" said the Major, "I already experienced it when I travelled to another reality… and it hurts, trust me."

"Then why did you come here?" asked Riley.

"The galaxy's at war in my reality" said the Major, "the Ori found us and are trying to take over. They are spreading a religion called Origin, and forcing it on people. Those who don't follow, are killed….. and that's not the other problem. The Ori also ascended, just like the Alterra… but they found that when the people in the lower plains worship them.. they gain power."

"There's a real physical transfer of energy?" asked Willow."

"Yea" said the Major as she nodded her head, "the ascended found the same thing as well, which is why it is their highest law to never interfere in the lower plains of existence."

"The power would corrupt them" said Buffy softly.

"Yea" replied the Major, "the Ori knew that if they acted directly in this galaxy, then they would fall under the law of the Others; and they would be stopped. But the Ori didn't have enough worshippers in this galaxy to pick a fight with the ascended so they cheated… they impregnated one of my teammates with one of their own. A human being with all of their knowledge, and their powers to convert more planets to origin. I… I was facing her using my own gifts…"

"I thought you didn't use magic?" asked Amy.

"It's genetic" said the Major as she looked at Willow, "I was fighting Adria, the human representation of the Ori.. she was more powerful than me. We were on her ship to create a weapon, a weapon created by an ascended being who return to the lower plains with all of his knowledge and powers to destroy the Ori. I was just buying time, but I knew that I couldn't hold off Adria for long. I was getting weak when I felt it, one of the ascended offered me ascension… told me the risk of interfering once I was fully ascended. She said that in the period between mortality and ascension.. I could act… but I would still be punished. I accepted it. I think I killed Adria just before I fully ascended… but once I did… I could feel the heartbeat of the entire galaxy, but almost immediately the Others punished me. The last thing I remember before I was ripped out of my reality was Faith running to me. And then I woke up in the Espresso Pump, and… here I am."

It was then that the others heard someone clapping from behind them. Turning around, the Major walked next to her alternate as they watched the First in Buffy form standing while clapping her hands together; a sick smile on her face.

"Nice story" said the First, "an ascended being, I'd love to have your memories… memories of the Stargate, memories of these powerful weapons… all that knowledge in your mind… Yummy."

"What would you want with that?" asked Buffy.

"Are you an idiot?" asked the First as she took on Dawn's form, "I have my physical form. Once I have Major Willow Rosenberg's memories, I will know how to use the Stargate. And then… and then I will spread my children throughout this galaxy."

"Dawnie?" asked the Major as she gripped Willow's hand tightly, "Dawnie, are you in there or…?"

"I'm a part of the First" said Dawn, "I finally know the truth of how my Willow treated me, how Buffy treated me.. all like I was a child. And Xander, of my Xander.. I so wanted to.. you know."

"No" said Xander as he clenched his fists tightly.

"You have all of Dawn's memories?" asked the Major as the First smiled, "then tell me something, did I ever love being near Feregers?"

"Excuse me?" asked the First, "what is that? Like a hamster or something?"

"You're the thing that created all evil?" asked the Major, "you told me you were here before the big bang? And all that good stuff?"

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"Then you should know what a Fereger is" said the Major.

"Willow?" asked Giles as the Major put her hand up and looked back at the Watcher, and then at the General who was standing next to him before looking at the First again.

"Come on" said the Major, "tell me…. you're so old that you should know… do you know the Lanteans? Athosians? The Goa'uld? The Asgard? The Nox? The Ancients?"

"Furling?" asked Xander as the First, in Dawn's form, looked at him and smiled before taking the form of Anya, "you aren't her."

"You left me to die, Xander" said Anya, "you let me and Andrew die.. you left without me and…"

"You are not her!" said Xander.

"Tell me" said the Major as Anya looked at her, "have you ever heard of those names?"

"Does it matter?" asked the First as she walked towards the Major, "I will have your memories soon, and then… I will used those weapon against these meat sacks before I take over the galaxy."

"You don't know them" said the Major, "you know none of them."

"Will" said Xander, "not nice to piss off the creator of all evil."

"It's not the creator of all evil" said the Major as she glared at the First, "it's not old, it's not knowledgeable… I don't fear you. You can show me Dawn, you can show us Anya… tell you what, prove to me how great you are by showing me Joyce Summers."

"Willow" said the Scoobies, including the Major's alternate, "what are you doing?"

'Hera' thought the Major to herself while hoping that Dawn was ascended for her gamble to work, 'if you can hear my thoughts, I need you to go to a planet called Edina. I am thinking of the Stargate address now… go to that planet, and then give me a sign that Joyce is alive. If you're out there…. I need you to trust me, Hera. Read my mind about everything I told these guys… please. I can help, but I need this favour. It's technically not…'

The Major just smiled as she felt a wind brush past her hair, and it was then she knew that Hera heard her thoughts.

"What are you smiling about?" asked the First who took on Joyce's form as the Scoobies glared at the Major and at the First for bringing back horrible memories.

"Willow" said Joyce as she looked at the Major, and then at the other redhead. She then looked at Giles and the others before smiling at them, and then telling them to surrender to the First. That it would be better that them getting killed needlessly. She then looked back at the Major and told her that she was given the chance to leave, but she didn't take it. And now, she would die.

"I did tell you I needed their help" said the Major, "I told you that this wasn't my war, and that if you let them help me get back.. then that would be all well and good. I'd have a way back home… of course that doesn't mean that I wont convince some friends to pop by and kick your ass but…"

"Silence" said the First.

"I told you that I'll stop your attack" said the Major, "and…."

It was then that the Major felt a light, warm wind brush her cheeks, before it went down her am and then to her hand. She could feel a finger making an outline of a symbol in the palm of her hand. Once she knew they message being relayed, the Major smiled at her alternate, and then at the Scoobies.. before looking at the First again.

"Joyce Summers is alive" said the Major as she approached the First, "she is alive and well on another planet."

"Willow" shouted Buffy, "that's not…."

"In my reality" said Major Willow, "we found Joyce Summers safe and sound on another planet. She died in my reality as well, but the one who died was a clone created by an alien race so that they could save themselves, You call yourself the First, but you have no idea the memories you have tis that of a clone's."

"Miss Harkness?" asked Amy and Giles, "is she…"

"She speaks true" said Harkness, "as she has about everything else."

"You are a joke" said the Major as she looked at the First, "you are nothing. Claiming to be there since the beginning of time. What a joke… you couldn't tell a clone from a human being. I do not fear you. I have access to powerful technology that will wipe you and your demons out, and…"

"And… and you have three powerful witches who will close the Hellmouth" said Willow as everyone looked at her.

"Take away the supply of mystical energy, and…." said Giles as he got deep into thought.

"If all else fails" said the Major, "I have access to technology that will evacuate every human left on Earth, and… and since you'd love to have this world as your own.. you can keep it. I can use one of the power sources and not only blow this planet, but nearly the entire solar system… and since you have a physical form… well, good luck."

"I will watch you die" said the First as she looked at the Major in Buffy's form, before looking at Willow as she got into Tara's form, "and you… I will watch all of you die. I am coming.. the Three are coming… destruction and the splitting of you world are coming. You think you can destroy me and my children…. I will burn you all. You cannot stop this… you'll see."

The First then faced General Landry and told him to experience the last day of his life. That it was over for this small outpost that held the progenitor that activated all the Slayers.

"Prepare for the end of your world" said the First, "I will bring my entire army here… I will burn this land as a example of what the rest of the world can experience. Go and enjoy your lives, in twenty four hours… you people are done for."

The First then vanished laughing as Major Willow and the others were left alone in the building.

"Major!" shouted General Landry as she turned around and faced him, "what the hell did you just do?"

Willow placed a hand on the angry man's shoulder, and asked him to trust her; that the First was probably still listening.

"Sir" said the Major, "you need to defend this base, until I get back with the weapons."

"Major" said the General.

"Sir" said the redhead, "I know this technology, just like I'm sure my alternate knows what she has to do in terms of magic. You need to get all weapons ready and…. and fight."

"And if your allies don't exist?" asked the General.

"Then I'll die by your side, sir" said the Major.

"Willow" asked Giles as he looked at the red haired witch, "check my book, let's find something that can bring down Sunnydale over the Hellmouth.. if we can shut this one down.. then…"

"Then the others won't be that much trouble?" asked Xander.

"The Sunnydale Hellmouth is the oldest" said the Major as she stood next to General Landry, "and the most powerful. I think if you an collapse Sunnydale, then we have a chance… I mean.. if I'm not successful. Even if I am, I may be able to use the weapons to collapse Sunnydale… but I don't think there will be enough for the other hellmouth's which still need to be shut down to save the planet."

"I'll have the Slayer's ready" said Buffy.

"I need to know where the others are" said Willow, "if I can reach the ally, then.. we can get something done. How did you manage to activate them anyway?"

"Willow did something with the scythe" said Buffy as she showed the Major the weapon in her hand. The Major looked at it and was still astounded that they found it, but she knew that questions would have to wait for later. She hoped that here second gamble would pay off, that with the vast majority of the First's demons coming towards Sunnydale.. she could use the Death Valley weapon's outpost, or the one in Antarctica to use the drones and destroy the vast majority… leaving the rest for humans, Slayers and witches to destroy. Shaking her head, the Major listened at the same time about how Willow used the Scythe to share Buffy's power with every other Slayer.

"Hold on" said the Major, "you said share Buffy's power… not Sineya's powers…"

Willow looked on confused at the Major while Giles could only fix his glasses before he stepped forward and asked the Major how she knew that name.

"Giles?"

"The First Slayer" said Giles as he looked at the Major, and then at the weapon.

"That weapon" said the Major, "was made by Athena for the First Slayer. It's one of the things we found out in my reality… it contains he essence and… her powers."

"And she was powerful" said Giles as he looked at the weapon, "she was the closest to the demon that gave her the powers of a Slayer, so… if this artifact is mystical in nature then… oh dear lord."

"Giles?" asked Willow.

"You need to contact Sineya, herself" said the Major as she looked at Willow, "she's the first Slayer… it's her you need to…. I don't know, I guess talk with?"

"People" said the General, "whatever it is… we have twenty four hours. Get to it… Major, do what you have to do."

'Sir."

"Rupert, find out if you can collapse Sunnydale, and Miss Rosenberg? I want you to do your thing and contact this Sineya person."

"Got it" said both Giles and Willow.

"Miss Summers" said the General as he looked at Buffy who still couldn't believe what the Major said about her mother, "Miss Summers?"

"Huh? Oh… sorry. I was thinking."

"Get your Slayer's ready" said the General, "I'll get my people ready and… and we'll fight."

"Buff" said Willow, "I need the locations of your Slayers, and of the witches in the covens… we'll need them too."

Buffy nodded her head before she had a grin on her face, and just ran.

"Major" said General Landry, "if we die tomorrow… then you know that the First will have your memories."

"Then we survive, sir" said the Major, "I'll be back… if my allies exist in this reality… then I'll come back and help fight. And survive."

"Get to work, Major" said the General as Willow saluted him before turning around and heading back to the motorcycle. She watched as everyone started to make preparations before she headed out of the base, and towards the Sunnydale outpost. She just hoped that it was there, because if it wasn't… then they were all dead.

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sunnydale Army Base, 1615 hours.**

Willow watched as her alternate self left the base in a hurry on the motorcycle she rode into the base on earlier that day. She looked on as she rode further, and further away from the base as she thought about the story she told them. Particularly about the creation of the Hellmouth.

'It it's connected to the Earth' thought the redheaded witch to herself, 'then opening the Hellmouth, all the hellmouths, is what's poisoning the Earth. Making it ripe for the demons to take over, which means that… that the more the Earth dies, then humankind will die as well. We are all part of the Earth so…. I can't do this. How do I…. how do we…'

Willow looked at Amy, the former rat and her rival who had mentally tortured her before the First took form. The redhead knew that Amy wanted the First to come into the world as revenge against Willow for murdering her boyfriend, Warren Mears after he killed Tara. But she never knew what the consequences of her eagerness to welcome the First would mean… the destruction of everything she held dear to her. The retreating Scoobies were the ones that encountered Amy, who was fighting off some demons that were attacking her; they saved her before they all retreated to the army base where she and Willow called a truce on their rivalry.

'It's still not enough' thought Willow to herself as her alternate, the military version of herself from another reality, vanished in a plume of dust that was thrown up by the motorcycle, 'we're still not enough…. I…. if she could do magic, it still wouldn't be enough….'

"Willow?" said Buffy as she walked up to the redhead and stood next to her, along with Xander… the three original Scoobies together again, "what are you thinking? You think she was lying? I mean… aliens?"

"She was telling the truth" said Willow, "I trust Miss Harkness, and… and if she says my alternate self was telling the truth, then she was… but I don't know if I can do this, Buff."

"You can" said Buffy as she gently squeezed Willow's arm, "you activated the Slayers… you shared my power with them and…"

"And that took a lot, Buff" said Willow, "yea, Kennedy says that I seem like a goddess.. you know… white hair… shining white aura.. but I thought that was as deep I could go without going all dark, and veiny and…."

"Will" said Xander, "you've got Amy, you've got Agatha… you're not alone."

"But I am" said Willow as she looked from Xander, to the gates that led outside the base, "Amy and Miss Harkness have to find a way to collapse Sunnydale and… and I have to talk to the First Slayer, and I don't know how… I mean… just not talking to her, but convincing her to help, and not to kill us for trying to come to her. Remember what happened after the Unification Spell?"

Buffy and Xander physically shuddered when Willow mentioned the spell that called on the power of the First Slayer to unify Willow, Giles, and Xander into Buffy's body to defeat Adam. Thanks to the spell, Buffy had Willow's power, Giles' knowledge, Xander's determination and the First Slayer's powers in her body to defeat the human-demon hybrid. After that encounter, the four of them had nightmares when the First Slayer hunted each of the in their dreams, and killed them. However, out of all the Scoobies, only Buffy managed to defeat her before they suddenly woke up, shaken with the experience.

"And" said Willow after Buffy and Xander shuddered, "she said that this weapon was made by Athena for the First slayer, I mean… a goddess made this weapon for her and…"

"That's the part I don't get" said Buffy as she looked at the Scythe in her hand, "the Guardian said that they created the weapon; it was in my head but with all the hoopla about the First coming with her demons, I never asked the other you what she meant."

"A galactic level war" said Xander softly as he rubbed the back of his head, "I can't imagine…."

"We don't need to" said Buffy as she handed the Scythe to Willow, "we have our own battle to deal with, and if her allies don't exist in this reality, then.. then we.. then we're all dead."

She then looked at the worried look on Willow's face before telling the witch that she trusted her with her life. That she trusted her with all of their lives and that there was no way that she could fail. Leaning forward, Buffy kissed the redhead's forehead before stepping back. She then told Xander to get with Robin, and General Landry to discuss their next step.

"Like the General said, I'll get the Slayers ready and Willow? I know you can do it.. contact the First Slayer"

"I.. I'll try" said Willow as Xander interrupted her in his best Yoda impression.

"Do, or do not" said Xander, "there is no try."

Willow and Buffy just stared at the young man who grinned back at them before the three started to laugh; something they hadn't done much for the past seven months since the Hellmouth was opened.

After Xander and Buffy left, Willow was staring at the gate all alone while holding the Scythe. She looked at it, closed her eyes to sense if she could feeling anything. Opening her eyes again when she sensed nothing, Willow knew she had to remain calm to access the energy of the Scythe, which meant that she needed to go into deep meditation, and she needed to do it soon. Looking at the Scythe before she turned to walk around, Willow stopped suddenly when she found herself in a dessert.

Looking around surprised, she saw lions and zebra's in the distance when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she saw an aged tree… it's branches shrivelled up but it still seemed strong. She looked around at the grass land around her before she looked at that one tree again.

"Where am I?" asked Willow to herself as she turned around and saw a lion running after a zebra. She saw the zebra run as fast as it could, but eventually it was caught by the lion. Closing her eyes and turning around again towards the tree, Willow slowly opened her eyes to find a little girl standing under the tree… he hand against the trunk as she stared at the redhead. Willow then walked towards the girl so as not to frighten her as she spoke, "hello? Can you understand me? Where am I and…."

"Who are you?" asked the girl as she walked towards Willow. Willow stopped and looked at the dark skinned girl as she walked towards her. The redhead could see that she was modestly dress in what looked like tanned animal hides, her feet were bare, and her hair was dark and dry.

"My name is Willow Rosenberg, and you?"

"I am she who once was."

"I don't understand."

"You do not know the truth about who you are" said the girl, "if you are unaware of the truth, then how can you know the truth of who I once was… who I would one day be?"

"I don't understand" said Willow.

"There is a great darkness approaching" said the girl who pointed behind Willow as the redhead looked back and saw dark clouds gathered in the distance, "the darkness will approach, and when it takes over this land… everything will turn to dust."

"Which I why I'm here but…"

"You seek the Slayer" said the girl as Willow turned around again to face her, "but if you come to the Slayer as you are, she will not listen… she will attack you… you seek a primal power… a vast wellspring of power that one would need the truth to control. You have met one like yourself, she knows the truth… but even if she tells you what is hidden deep within yourself… the Slayer still would not listen because you do not know."

"I don't understand" said Willow, "my world is dying and I don't need riddles to…."

"Search within yourself" said the girl as she reached for Willow's hand, "the answer is there."

Once the girl touched Willow, the redhead felt a spark go through her body before she found herself back at the base. She looked down at the Scythe again before she ran to one of the buildings that held Giles' books, the witch knew that Giles would be there and she needed his help.

'Something in my memories?' thought Willow to herself as she ran while mentally kicking herself for not talking to her alternate, 'I need Giles, I need a spell that would go deep within my memories…. Something's there… I must have seen that girl somewhere.. she knows something. I can feel it.'

 **Sunnydale Outpost, 1830 hours.**

Major Willow had been riding as fast as she could while staying clear of any demons. The ones that she did encounter though, the red head would change her route and go on another way until she reached the area where Dawn had discovered the control column in her own reality, the same area that she recalled from her memories of using the same outpost thousands of years ago. She knew that she was being followed by the demons that she encountered before running away. The Major even emptied her nine-milimeter into a few of them, but they were only replaced by other demons. So she upped the throttle and rode as fast and hard as she could. Eventually, she managed to get a lead of a few minutes on them by the time she reached the area of the control column.

Stopping the bike near some shrubs and boulders where she knew the hidden panel in the ground was located, Willow ran to the holographic covering, and crouched down. She could feel the ground trembling beneath her feet as the ten demons that were chasing her got closer, and closer. Looking back over her shoulder, Willow saw the First in Buffy's form standing behind her. Then behind the First, Willow could see the demons running ever so closer.

"What will you do in the dessert?" asked the First as it walked towards Willow who placed her hand on the top of the disguised column and brought her hand upwards as the column, an off-white coloured pillar that had some sections glowing blue, was raised. She saw the holographic disguise that covered the palm scanner vanish just as she was pushed to the ground from behind.

"Hey Red" said the First as she took on Faith's form.

"You aren't Faith" said Willow as she got up before she dodged a kick from the Slayer by jumping back. Willow rushed towards Faith before turning her body and kicking out at her. However, her foot passed harmlessly through the First's face. The First then rushed forward and grabbed Willow by the collar before picking her up and then throwing her back down onto the ground.

"Oh, Red" said Faith as she placed her knee on the redhead's chest as she opened her mouth in pain. She then leaned forward and wrapped her hands around the Major's throat, "I had such a crush on you, did you know that? But no… you saw me as just an obstacle in your way and…"

"No" gasped Willow for breath as she waved her hands on the ground while reached for the column. She could see the demons surrounding them as she looked back up at Faith who was grinning as she told Willow that it will kill her, take her form and then use the palm scanner to get at the technology.

"Now, die" said Faith as she tightened her grip as Willow opened her mouth.

"Fa… Faith" said Willow as she struggled to speak, "yu…. You…. wife… lov… love…"

"Easy there" said Faith as the First now used both of her hands to strangle the redhead, "easy there… just go quietly."

"Love… you" said Willow as she looked into Faith's eyes as they flinched. Willow knew that the First was surprised by what it had heard, and she could feel the grip on her throat easing. She had to do everything she could to get the First off balanced so she told it the truth, "you… you are my wife. You married me. Imagine, Faith…. you have to be somewhere in there… Faith…"

Willow felt the First's grip releasing, and she made her move. Twisting away as she felt scratching marks on her throat. Willow turned her body on the ground as the First got up and screamed. Willow got up as she saw the First coming towards her in anger. Willow then felt the First kick her jaw as she stumbled back towards a demon who swiped at her with it's claws. Stopping herself just in time, Willow ducked as Faith threw a punch at Willow before the redhead ran around her and towards the control column.

"Get her!" shouted the First as Willow placed her hand on the palm scanner. Willow saw the demons running towards her as the light on the scanner turned green.

"I was telling the truth" said Willow as she looked over her shoulder at the First while blood was coming down the side of her mouth, "you are my wife… and I will go back home to you."

The First could only look on enraged as Willow vanished in white light, just as one of the demons destroyed the control console that was the only entry point to the Sunnydale outpost. Knowing how close it got to Willow's memories, and the anger that accompanied that near miss… the First made a decision.

'Screw the twenty four hours' thought the First as it looked at the howling demons, 'I'll send in the first wave in twelve hours. Kill half of the base, and leave the other half for later."

As the light faded around her, Willow collapsed onto her knees in the teleportation chamber that was outside the main lab. Willow couldn't believe how close she was to dying in a reality that wasn't her own, a reality where the First could threaten the entire galaxy all at once if it had her memories. Slowly getting up as the lights to the outpost came online, Willow walked into the other room where the Ancient control console stood and looked at the symbols before smiling.

'Thank you, mother' thought Willow to herself, 'you downloaded the Ancient language into my mind.'

Willow activated the console by pressing a column down as a screen came online with a variety of symbols rushing by. Willow then turned around and noticed the destruction that this reality's Athena and Melia had carried out before she looked back at the screen. She knew that she had all of her old memories, and Willow knew that even though the self destruct was activated thousands of years ago,, she hoped that some of the cloning pods were still capable of being used for her plan.

"We found everything destroyed back home" said Willow as she pressed a column which brought the schematics for the complex, "and we opened the pods that had intact bodies… but according to Dr. Lam, those bodies were so old… that they turned to dust once meeting with the oxygen in the air. So…. Using what I know, let's see if any bodies are still intact."

Willow pressed a few more columns and found that out of the thousand remaining clones that were supposed to have been destroyed, there were still nine clone bodies intact.

"And out of those" said Willow as she pressed another three columns while looking at the screen as three figures lit up, "three of the pods have power. In my reality we opened all of these pods.. well the medical unit did.. but that was before I got my memories so we had no idea that some pods could still be active. Damn it."

Willow activated those pods so that it could start to heal the bodies.

"Ok, five minutes" said Willow to herself before she activated the subspace transmitter. She then pressed some of the columns to set the subspace frequency to the ranges that she knew the Asgard in her reality were monitoring, the same once she hoped were being monitored in this particular reality.

'Here goes nothing' thought Willow to herself before she spoke out loud to no one in particular once the frequency ranges were selected, "my name is Major Willow Rosenberg of Earth. I have a message for Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. I need your help… I came here from another reality and I need the help of the Asgard to return to my home reality, and… and I need help in saving the Earth. Please, help me. I can't offer much in return, but I can try. So… please. Help me."

Willow then stepped back after the message was sent, and waited for a response. She hoped that even if Thor wasn't here in this galaxy, that the message would have reached any Asgard ship and then they would have contacted Thor… or they would come themselves and help her. Willow sighed and turned around, she intended to walk towards the far wall, away from the debris on the floor of the outpost and take a seat. After all the excitement and adrenalin rush of the past few hours, she suddenly felt exhausted; all she wanted to do was sleep for a few days. Walking towards the wall, she heard a beep behind her. Turning around, she walked back to the console and pressed another column down as the screen activated to show a small grey alien who was blinking at her and tilting his head.

"Greetings, I am Heimdall of the Asgard Science Council. You are Major Willow Rosenberg of Earth?"

"Yes" said Willow nodding her head, "I'm contacting you from an Ancient outpost, and… and I hope you understood my message. Is Thor alright?"

"Yes, I have" said Heimdall, "as for Commander Thor, he is assisting with the evacuation of our worlds due to a war with a great enemy, a war that we are on the verge of losing."

"Against replicators?" asked Willow who saw Heimdall tilt his head and blink at the redhead. Willow knew this was her worst nightmare come true, and she started to think about how she could be able to help them in return for helping her. It was then that she came up with the perfect solution, "we faced them together in our own reality. I can help you with a weapon to defeat them; I just need you to help me make a quick stop at a Stargate address. In addition, I have a unique protein marker in my blood that's helped the Asgard in my reality halt, and reverse, their genetic degradation due to mass cloning. It was the key that they were looking for in my own reality."

"How is that possible?" asked Heimdall.

"I have both Furling and Ancient genes" said Willow as she watched Heimdall's eyes open wide, "and… and all I ask is that you help me get home, and help me defend this world."

"Ancient and Furling genes in one human body?" asked Heimdall, "that should not be possible."

"My father told me that he met the Asgard in my own reality when the Alliance of Four was first formed to fight against the Goa'uld" said Willow as she looked at Heimdall, "I don't know if your people met him in this reality as well. His name was Moros; Moros of Atlantis?"

"You are Athena?" asked Heimdall, surprise evident in his voice, "you have descended?"

"In my own reality, yes I have" said Willow, "I wanted to help in battling something on Earth, so I was physically reborn. My mother had the Furling gene within her and… yeah. I have both."

"I see" said Heimdall, "If what you say is true… all you ask is help to return to your reality?"

"Yes" said Willow, "and help in… help in defeating creatures that have taken over the Earth. I don't know if you've noticed but…."

"We have" said Heimdall as Willow hung her head and nodded.

"Of course you have" whispered the redhead.

"As you know" said Heimdall as Willow looked back up at the screen, "we are unable to interfere without express permission from the highest ranking leader of your world. As we have not been called for, we…"

"People are dying, Heimdall" said Willow, "please, I can prove to you that I am an Ancient… that I have the Ancient gene… please… I am asking on behalf of the Alliance that our people once had. Won't the Asgard help the human's of Earth. In my reality, Baldur told my commanding officer that the humans of Earth have the potential to become the fifth race of the Alliance. That still has to hold true, Heimdall."

"Major" said Heimdall as Willow wiped the blood from the side of her mouth, "this will need to be discussed with the High Council."

"To prove to you my sincerity" said Willow, "in my reality, the Asgard helped us… and in return, we helped to defeat most of the replicators using Ancient knowledge after my commanding officer had the entire repository of knowledge downloaded into his mind."

"That much knowledge for the human brain is not possible" said Heimdall.

"The Asgard removed the knowledge" said Willow, "but not before he gave your people the specifications to build a large scale version of the weapon. I intend to do the same thing…. My body and my mind is that of a near ascended Ancient, I know I won't be able to hold the knowledge for long.. but it should be enough for you to connect my mind to the computer on your ship and build the weapon."

"Human's are interesting beings" said Heimdall.

"In my reality" said Willow as she stood up straight, "Baldur was the one who removed the information from my friend's mind the first time he downloaded the repository of information; like I told you earlier he told my Commanding Officer that we have the potential to be the fifth race and that's what we're going towards in my reality. We've defeated most of the Goa'uld system lords, and now we're in another war that's encompassing the entire galaxy. So I need to get back and help protect my home, I need to get back and help my friends. My friends in this reality are in danger as well… as is my alternate. So please, would you help me? I'll do everything I can to help you… but I need your help in getting back."

'Your alternate self lives?"

"Yes" said Willow, "help me, help us… please."

"I am on the outer edge of your galaxy" said Heimdall as Willow nodded her head. "I will be in the orbit of Earth in ten of your minutes"

"Thank you" said Willow as she pressed a few more columns, "I'm sending you the coordinates for a beam out. I'll be there waiting, Heimdall."

"I will do what I can to convince the Council to help your world" said Heimdall, "but the replicators take precedence over all other matters."

"I understand" said Willow as she looked at the screen and noticed that she had two more minutes until the clones were healed, "I will be at the location in a few minutes. You can contact me on the radio frequency I've sent you."

"Very well" said Heimdall as the Asgard scientist's image vanished, and was replaced by various symbols on the screens. Willow checked the surface of the dessert and found that the demons were still congregating on the surface, with twenty more thrown in for good measure with no sign of the First. She then activated the Ancient sensors so that she could get a current readout of the planet; and as she read the Ancient symbols on the screens her eyes widened at how grave the situation really was.

"Dear God" whispered Willow as she read the lines of symbols, "human population stands at a little over eighty million worldwide. That's.. that.. oh God no… from seven billion to…"

Willow continued to read even more depressing numbers as the scans showed that the air was slowly being irradiated due to nuclear meltdowns in Japan, some countries in Europe and the Middle-East. Her environmental readings were calculating that total irradiation of the air would take place in less than three months. She also read that most of the water supply was in danger as well, 'Hell on earth.'

"No meltdowns here, yet" said Willow as she concentrated on the U.S, "military has taken over but… but they can't last too long. Once they're gone then…. That's it."

There was a beeping sound as Willow closed her eyes and shook her head. She had to push everything to the back of her mind as she pressed two columns down and brought the Sunnydale Army Base on screen, and then used the same beaming technology that she used to send the clones to the Furlings all those thousands of years ago, to target herself.. and the three clone pods to the building where she had been talking to the alternate Scoobies earlier.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, 1900 hours.**

In the primary building, Riley, Giles, General Landry and Buffy were standing next to the communications equipment as they were getting please from help in the other bases around the country. They would hear people, men and women, screaming before the line went dead; and then a voice would say that another one was down for the count.

"The First?" asked Buffy as Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose before nodding his head.

"How's Miss Rosenberg, Miss Madison's, and Miss Harkness' preparations?" asked the General.

"Willow told me about that vision she had" said Giles, "I've looked through whatever books I managed to salvage and found a ritual known as The Sleep of Memory. It essentially a dream walk deep into Willow's own subconscious. Everything that she remembers, experienced, and saw will be at her finger tips. She's meditating now and…."

Giles stopped talking when he heard a buzzing sound behind them. Turning around, they looked on as four beams of white light deposited the Major, and three orange tubes behind her.

"Major?" said the General in shock, "was that…. Was that…?"

"Teleportation technology?" asked Major Willow, "yes, sir."

"Willow" said Riley as he rushed towards the redhead, "you're injured."

"Yea" she said, "had an encounter with the First. Tried to kill me when I activated the entry way into the outpost."

"How can we be sure that she didn't kill you?" asked Buffy suspiciously, "the First can take physical form and, and we don't know if it really killed you or…"

"Buffy's right, Willow" said Giles, "or the First."

"Captain" said the General as he looked at Riley, "I want a defence team here and…"

"Sir" said the Major, "if you're going to send for back-up, then may I suggest they bring three sets of clothes."

'Willow?" asked Riley as he rushed past the redhead before turning ta the door to the building, 'why would…"

"I promised you something to help you, sir" said the Major, "the ally will be coming to pick me up and… and I need to know if the President is still alive."

"Why?" asked the General.

"Because the ally will not interfere unless asked to by the highest ranking authority" said Willow, "and he, or she, needs to come with me to ask their High Council for help. That's the only way that they will intervene."

"Major… I…" said the General as four Marines ran in before the aimed their weapons at the Major. Riley followed them back into the building with three sets of full BDU's.

'Sir" said Willow, "he'll be here soon, and I need to show you something… please? I am not the First."

"If she tries anything funny" said the General to the Marines, "shoot her."

"This is just one part of the weapons" said the Major with her hands up as she walked backwards towards the tubes behind her, "these were created as living weapons for the fight against demons nearly ten thousand years ago."

"Willow?" asked Buffy.

The Major told the General that she was going to enter a code on the panel on the left side of each tube so that the weapons can come out. She then asked Riley to have the BDU's ready.

"Sir" said the Major as she stepped backwards, "trust me, if I was the First.. I would not be giving you these weapons. Please ask the Marines to put down their rifles, if they see any threat… they will protect me… please."

"Major?"

"Please, sir."

"Weapons down" said the General as the doors to each of the pods opened as steam rushed out from each.

It was then that Buffy, Giles, Riley and the General walked towards the Major as they stood beside her and watched three people, two men and one woman, walked out from the tubes naked. Willow never knew what the clones looked like, even when she was Athena.. she grew the clones without knowing each and everyone, or what they looked like so that there could be no attachment to her. She wanted them to have the option to fight if they wanted to, and if they didn't.. then they were to have their own lives instead of having to meet the person who created them. But now it was different.

The Major looked stunned at one of the men, before looking at Buffy and Giles and then at the man again.

"Angel?" asked Buffy as she stepped forward as the clone who resembled Angel with long hair looked at her, and then at the Major.

"Creator" said the clone as he, and the others, walked towards the Major who took a step forward while the others looked at her in surprise.

"I'm not your creator, but we can discuss that later" lied the Major, "first things first, all of you need to wear something."

The General, who was avoiding looking at the men and the woman, signalled Riley to hand over the BDU's to the Major, who then handed the clothes to the clones. They looked at them, and then at the Major who stepped forward and told them that they had to put on the clothes since times had changed.

Willow looked back at the usually stoic Marines who were now looking around nervously while Buffy stood next to the Major and asked what did the one that looked like Angel mean when he called her the 'creator'.

"Yes, Willow" said Giles as he looked at the clones after they put on the clothes as he, and the others walked towards them, "what did he mean?"

"Where's your Willow?" asked the Major ignoring Giles' question as she looked back at him who told her that she was meditating for a ritual to gain access to any hidden memories. The Major nodded her head at that revelation and then looked back at the clones, "Athena was the one who created them."

"Excuse me?" asked Giles as the Major turned around, "the goddess Athena?"

"Giles, Buffy, General Landry, Riley" said the Major ignoring Giles' question again, "I don't know what your Willow will find when she goes digging in her memories, but there is a lot you don't know. And it's not my place to say. All you need to know, is that these three… and their brothers and sisters are the precursors to the Slayer."

"What?" asked a shocked Giles and Buffy.

"Willow" said a stunned Riley, "but… Giles told me that he Slayer was created thousands of years ago and…. and if they…"

"The Shadow Men killed all the clones that were given to them" said the Major as she turned and looked at the clones who were looking back at her, "they used the life force of nearly twenty nine thousand clones, all with enhanced strength, healing durability, enhanced senses, speed… name it…. They had everything to fight an enemy in another galaxy. Buffy, haven't you ever wondered how you were able to do all those fancy moves? How any new Slayer is able to suddenly know how to fight, even without training."

"It's mystical, Willow" said Giles, "it's…"

"Genetic memory, with mystical elements put in" said the Major, "the clones that were made by Athena, the same one who created the weapon Buffy was holding, were designed with genetic memory on armed and unarmed combat. The ultimate fighting machines; they were supposed to fight the demons when the Alterra returned to Earth."

"They came back?" asked Giles.

"They were so old compared to the new humans who existed on Earth that they called themselves the Ancients" said the Major as she looked at the Clones, "one of them, Athena… wanted to build these weapons to fight in their war against an enemy just as advanced as them, but they lost the war and escaped their new home galaxy; the one they went to after leaving this one. Athena wanted to build these clones to fight them, as well as a built in explosive within their genetic code that would kill each and every one of them once someone gave the command."

"What?" asked Giles surprised.

"So that they didn't rise against their creators" said General Landry, as Willow nodded her head and then looked back at the clones.

"We have records that show Athena recreated these clones on Earth so that the Shadow Men don't use Sineya.. so that they don't sacrifice her because of some prophesy that she was destined for by the Powers that Be."

"The destiny of the Slayer" said Giles.

"Athena made a deal" said the Major as she recalled what happened with the Furlings, "that the Shadow Men take the clones in exchange for Sineya's life."

"But… I saw the Slayer… I mean… I went through the portal to meet the Shadow men and…"

"The Shadow Men betrayed Athena" said the Major as the Clones looked at her, "they killed all the clones Athena gave them, and used the combined power of the clones' life forces, and the demon, to create the Slayer… they made Sineya the Slayer in front of Athena's eyes. We found out all this in my reality."

"Our brothers and sisters?" asked the one who looked like Angel.

"Are dead?" asked the woman.

"Yes" said the Major, "I am not your creator, I am not Athena… however, I am her descendent."

"Major?" asked the General as Buffy, Riley and Giles looked at each other in surprise.

"Long story" said the Major as her radio began to buzz.

"Major Rosenberg, this is Heimdall on board the Mjolnir. Are you prepared for a beam out?"

"Stand by" said the Major into her radio while looking at the shocked faces of the people in front of her.

"Heimdall?"

"Beam out?"

"Willow?"

"Major?" asked the General, "what's going on?"

"I'll explain later, sir" said the Major, "the President?"

"Area 51" said General Landry, "deep underground but…"

"Thank you, sir" said the Major before she turned around and looked at the clones, "there is another of me on this base. She is Athena's descendent in this reality.. I come from another reality."

"We understand" said the clones.

"Athena gave you free will" said the Major, "to fight, or to leave if you wish."

"Major?"

"I am asking you to fight" said the Major, "this world has been taken over by demons, monsters, creatures that exist in nightmares and I am asking you to help fight them. Fight them so that you can live in peace once they are gone. Will you fight for the people here? Will you fight for Earth?"

"We can leave to live our lives once the fighting is over?"

The Major looked back at the General who looked back at her, before looking at the clones and nodding his head.

"Very well" said the woman.

"We will fight" said the other man.

"This is General Hank Landry" said the Major as the General walked up to her, "he is the commander of the base, and you are to listen to his instructions."

"Understood" said the Clones as they walked over to the General.

"We will follow your orders" said the one who looked like Angel.

"Heimdall" said the Major as she stepped back while the others looked at her, "beam me up."

"Willow" said Buffy.

"I'll be back, Buffy" said the Major, "keep the light on."

Buffy nodded her head as the redhead vanished in a beam of bright white light that mad eth Marines look at each other even more nervously. They then looked at the clones who were looking around at their surroundings.

 **Asgard Vessel Mjolnir, orbit over Earth, 1910 hours.**

Willow soon found herself surrounded by the gunmetal grey interior of an Asgard vessel. Finding herself looking out the window at Earth which, at least from space, seemed to be shrouded in blood, she then turned around and smiled at the Asgard who was walking towards her from behind a console.

"Major Rosenberg" said Heimdall.

"Heimdall" said Willow as she headed towards the alien before nodding her head, "it's good to see you."

The Asgard just looked at the redhead before turning around and heading back towards the console. He told her that he received a subspace message from Thor that the evacuation of Orilla was still not complete, that he needed to get back to help defend the planet while they evacuated the consciousness of Asgard who still did not have a cloned body.

"Alright" said Willow as she ran to Heimdall's console, "I know you said that you can't help us yet, unless you get permission from the highest official on the planet, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok, I can give you the coordinates to beam him up from" said Willow, "but I need your help to save the people on the space station, and I need to get the people on the ground where I came from some weapons from our other bases. Please, they'll be under attack within twenty four hours and… and if the High Council doesn't make a decision until then to help them… they'll be slaughtered."

"Very well" said Heimdall as he pulled up a screen that showed a view of the Earth. Willow pointed to the United States before she pointed at several bases and asked the alien to run a life signs scan. Once they had found human life signs, Willow asked Heimdall to beam all of them to the Sunnydale Army base. She them pointed out more bases before asking the Asgard scientist to beam out the human life signs, ammunition, weapons, tanks, supplies, mobile missile launchers, and shoulder mounted missile launchers to the Sunnydale Army base.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, at that same time.**

"Do you have names?" asked the General as he looked at the three clones who looked at each other, and then at the General before shaking their heads.

"Are names important?" asked the one who looked like Angel, the one that Buffy couldn't take her eyes off.

"It.. it gives you individuality" said Giles as he too was still stunned by the series of events that were going on.

"I do not have a name" said the woman.

"As I" said the other man.

"How about" said Buffy as she looked at the one who looked like Angel, and remembered how he once told her his human name, "how about we call you Liam?"

"Liam?" said Giles as he raised an eyebrow at the blonde Slayer who just stared at the clone.

"Liam" said the clone as he bowed at Buffy, "yes, I would like to be called Liam."

"Can I be Liam, as well?" asked the woman.

"Jane" said one of the Marines as the others looked back at him, "I mean… she looks like a Jane."

"And you can be John" said the General as he looked at the other clone who nodded his head. It was then that they heard multiple buzzing sounds from outside, followed a huge commotion. The General, along with the others, ran outside and were faced with an amazing sight. Various personnel were appearing in beams of bright white light as Xander came running towards them, oblivious about the clones behind the General, as he told him that personnel just started appearing.

"And not just people" said Xander, "we've got reports of weapons, ammunition, tanks, missile launchers, RPG's, AT4's, MRE's… I mean… what's going on?"

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you" said the General before he shouted at the top of his voice for everyone to keep it down, "we need to talk."

 **Asgard Vessel Mjolnir, orbit over Earth, 1913 hours.**

Once all the supplies were beamed to the Sunnydale Army base, Willow pointed towards Area 51 and pointed to a group of people, and then she asked Heimdall to target the life signs inside the International Space Station. She asked the alien to beam the female life sign to the ship, and the male life signs to the Army base.

Willow then asked Heimdall if there was a place she could input a Stargate address they need to go to before heading to Orilla. Heimdall nodded his head and brought the redhead to another console where he placed an Asgard stone in a corner and turned it ninety degree. She saw a visual representation of the Milky Way symbols come up on a screen as Heimdall asked her to indicate the address, and use the Earth as a point of origin.

Nodding her head as she input the address, Willow then stood protectively in front of Heimdall since she had no idea if the President's secret service team would be getting beamed up as well since there was no way to tell them apart. She then asked the grey alien to target the female life sign onto the ship, and the others to the Army base.

"Ready?" asked Willow as Heimdall nodded his head. Willow had already told him about what could happen, so the redhead told him to hide behind the console, and beam them out if they started to fire their weapons, "beam them in."

Willow watched as six beams of light deposited Colonel Carter onto the ship; appearing on her side with an oxygen mask on her face as she fell a few inches onto the floor of the ship, and then there was the President who was immediately surrounded by a surprised, but protective, secret service team as they raised their weapons at Willow, and at Colonel Carter while demanding to know what was going on.

"Hold your fire!" said Willow as she put her hands up, "Hold your fire!, Do not shoot! Do not Shoot!"

"What the hell is going on? Where are we? Who are you?" ask the Secret Service personnel.

Willow could see a bearded man in a tracksuit and jeans behind the Secret Service personnel, and sighed in relief when she recognized the man.

"President Hayes" said Willow as she looked at the man, who looked back at the redhead, "my name is Major Willow Rosenberg, of the Air Force… well, not this Air Force… another Air Force… you see, I'm from an alternate reality and…"

"Major" said Heimdall from behind the console, "we must leave."

"Secret Service guys" said Willow, "I need the President to come with me to save the world."

"Don't you…" said one of the men as he raised the weapon and prepared to fire.

"Heimdall" said the Major as the secret service personnel vanished in white beams of light as Willow turned back and told Heimdall to open a hyperspace window. Willow then looked at the President who turned when he noticed a bright light outside a window at one end of the large room. Willow then rushed to Colonel Carter and helped her up as she groaned from falling onto the metallic floor. The Colonel looked at Willow, before she too noticed the President looking at something with his view transfixed and his mouth open. The Colonel looked at where he was looking, and then her eyes opened wide at the blue and white tunnel that they were flying through.

"What?" asked the Colonel as she then looked at Willow again, and then at Heimdall who was working at a console as if nothing happened, before looking outside again, "what?"

"Sir, ma'am" said the Major as the President and the Colonel turned to look at Willow, "we're on a spaceship… a spaceship of an extremely advanced alien race known as the Asgard."

"As.. Asgard?" said the President in shock.

"We're right now flying through a region of subspace known as hyperspace, heading for a planet thousands of light years away which we should reach in…. Heimdall?"

"Two minutes."

"Two minutes" said Willow as she turned back to looked at the still stunned Colonel, and President, "so… any questions?"

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Asgard Vessel Mjolnir, travelling through Hyperspace, 1915 hours.**

Colonel Carter was trying to process everything that happened in the past few seconds. The last thing she remembered was floating in the International Space Station, the oxygen generators were damaged thanks to some micro-meteorite hits that caused a leak. And with no supplies from Earth since Red Day, the day that the occupants of the space station looked in horror as the sky's over the Earth started to turn red as the colour of blood. She then remembered hearing NASA telling them to stay put before there was screaming, followed by a sudden silence, then a various growls and snarls that came through the radio.

"You think you're safe" said a deep voice through the radio as the astronauts instinctively leapt backwards, floating in zero gravity. They looked at each other as the chilling voice continued to speak, a voice that gave them goosebumbs and caused them to involuntarily shudder, "you are not. After you die, the object will crash to Earth and then… and then we will feast on what remains of your flesh.. we will feast on your bones. We will bring your souls to hell and dance for all time."

The radio then cut out, but not before they heard screams and grunts in the background… followed by sounds of something flying. It was a few minutes later that they received a message from the L.A. Air Base saying that they were to stay up there… that it was much safer than on the ground.

The Colonel shook her head off all the horrors she had seen; large swathes of Russia and China where charred before her eyes as the red blanket started to get thicker. There were times when the red clouds got so thin that she was also to see the devastation being caused. She and the others maintained contact with the smaller bases in the U.S, especially the Sunnydale Army Base where she would give General Landry updates on any new developments, including the sightings of what seemed to be dragons the size of busses that were flying above the cloud cover.

But now, she was looking out into a blue and white tunnel that the redhead behind her called hyperspace, they were flying through a region of subspace. It was something that she theorized in her dissertation but she never dreamed that she'd see it. The fact that she was standing next to the President escaped her while she looked out the window, slack jawed, as the blue and white lights flew by.

"Ma'am? Sir?" said the voice of the redhead from behind them.

The Colonel, and the President, then turned around again and looked at the redhead in front of them. She asked them if they had any questions earlier, but all the two of them could do was look at her with their jaws slacked, and then turn and look out of the window again. They then looked at the Major again, and then at the grey alien at the console behind her… the grey alien who looked just like those they read in books; the Roswell Greys.

"Oh… my… God" said the Colonel.

"You got that right" said the President as Colonel Carter shook her head when she suddenly realized who she was standing next to, and saluted her commander-in-chief, as did Willow, "at ease, both of you."

Willow and the Colonel relaxed before the redhead walked towards them and apologized for kidnapping them the way she did.

"I know the both of you have a lot of questions" said Willow, "I'll answer everything as simply as I can. My name is Major Willow Rosenberg, I'm from an alternate reality.. and yes, Colonel I know you're going to say that it's impossible, but it's true."

"O..k" said the Colonel, "but if… and I mean if you really are from an alternate reality, then how can you prove it?"

"Well, other than there being another one of me in this reality?" asked Willow as the Colonel looked at her in surprise, "ok how about this, your father's name is General Jacob Carter, in my reality he was diagnosed with cancer years ago… but he survived thanks to some alien allies we made. He's now living a happy life in Colorado Springs."

"Dad's alive?" asked the Colonel surprised as Willow nodded her head.

"You have a brother, Mark" said Willow.

"I.. I do" said the Colonel.

"In my reality, you have a daughter" said Willow as the Colonel smiled, "you were married to a... well, you were married to someone but he's out of your life now. You love chocolate, blue jello… so much so in fact that you threatened the last Airman who took the last blue jell-O on the base."

The President looked at the Colonel with an eyebrow raised as the Colonel looked back at him.

"I like blue jello, sir" said the Colonel before looking at Willow again.

"You and I, we're part of a team that operates out of Cheyenne Mountain" Willow continued, "in the 1920's, archaeologists found an alien device in the Giza Plateau. The government thought it was a weapon they could use against the Nazi's but when they couldn't activate it, it was placed into storage. In 1996, it was discovered that the device was called a Stargate; a device built by an early race of Humans known as the Alterra more than fifty million years ago."

"What?' asked the President, "Major, that's…."

"You are on an alien ship, sir" said Willow as she stepped aside and motioned towards Heimdall, "this is Heimdall, he and his people… the Asgard, have watched over the human race for eons. They've taken on the roles of the Norse gods and supported primitive humans when necessary. Sir, Ma'am, to them we should have been advanced enough to take care of this on our own. You need to understand that another race of parasite's, known as the Goa'uld kidnapped humans from Earth ten thousand years ago.. installed themselves as the old gods like Ra, Set, Apophis.. take your pick, and then kidnapped early humans through the Stargate to other planets. They enslaved them, used them as hosts.. or as their personal soldiers known as Jaffa."

"So the galaxy is populated by humans?" asked the Colonel shocked.

"Yes, ma'am" said Willow, "millions of them. Some are advanced beyond Earth's technology; others are at a primitive state of development."

"Then why haven't you helped us?" asked the President as he looked at Heimdall, "you knew what was happening and…."

"The Asgard High Council is forbidden to act without the express permission of the highest ranking official of a developed world" said Heimdall, "it is true that we have watched over your planet, we have watched your people grow. We know the potentials that the human of Earth have, however it was not enough to interfere. Major Rosenberg does not know this, but there have been voices in the high council who have been petitioning to help the people of Earth, however it is difficult especially since your development falls between those of primitive people who still view us as gods, and those who are much more advanced such as the Tollan. It was only because of Major Rosenberg's offer of assistance to the Asgard that I have been able to come."

"Offer?" asked the President as he looked at Willow, "Major?"

"In my reality" said Willow, "we have already defeated the Goa'uld, and the enemy that the Asgard are fighting right now. A race of mechanical bugs called replicators."

At that, Heimdall turned on a screen that had a 3-D model of a bug replicator. The President, and the Colonel, both still on trembling legs as they tried to process the information that they were being given walked towards the screen as Heimdall told them that the replicators had nearly taken over their galaxy. That despite their level of advancement, the Asgard have been unable to defeat them.

"However" said Heimdall, "we have found an android on a desolate world in your galaxy that we believe…"

"Oh my God" said Willow as she opened her eyes wide at Heimdall, "are you talking about Reese?"

"We are unaware of her designation" said Heimdall as the Major, and President Hayes, looked at the worried redhead, "but…."

"Heimdall" said Willow, "let me guess, the Asgard Science Council found a command code that once activated, tells every replicator in the galaxy to come forth. Right?"

"Yes" said Heimdall as he looked up at Willow while blinking his eyes at her, "this has occurred in your reality as well?"

"Don't tell me you guys already activated the time-dilation device?" asked Willow. It was a few seconds later that her greatest fear came true when Heimdall nodded his head, "Heimdall, you need to tell the Council to shut it down."

"Major" said Heimdall, "the Council has projected every possible scenario that…."

"Not this one" said Willow, "in my reality, the Council were wrong. The time dilation device worked for a while, the replicators managed to switch it so that the time within the field increased for them. They went through so many evolutions that they eventually took on human form. They became human form replicators with nano-cells as their base, instead of replicator blocks. Nearly impossible to kill without using Ancient technology."

"Time dilation?"

"Human form replicators?" asked Colonel Carter.

"People" said the President, "what's times dilation and what does it…"

"Sir" said the Major as she shook her head before telling them that there will be answers, but if this isn't stopped now, then the entire galaxy will be gone… the demons on Earth will be the least of their worries because the replicators will eat everything in sight until they're the only ones in the galaxy. She then looked back at Heimdall and told him that she faced the human forms, that they kidnapped Colonel Carter in her reality, made a copy of her without any morals, without any controls; that she returned to the Milky Way and nearly took it over, that they had to use the Ancient super weapon on Dakara to destroy the entire Replicator invasion into the Milky Way.

"Tell them to stop, Heimdall" said Willow, "for all our sakes. Tell them to stop. The weapon I'm giving the Asgard releases a disruption waves that cancels out the links between each block, making them inert. This will work… I promise you."

"Very well" said Heimdall as he walked back to another console while Willow closed her eyes and turned towards two surprised people.

"Sorry, sir.. ma'am."

"Are you alright, Major?" asked the President when he noticed the redhead breathing hard as she leaned on the console.

"We don't have much time" said Willow, "you know about the demons and.. stuff taking over the planet?"

"The First paid a visit to me" said the President, "told me what it was before it took the form of my wife, who its demons killed while she was in New York."

"I'm sorry, sir" said Willow.

"Colonel Carter, and the other astronauts were told of what was happening and were ordered to stay in orbit" said the President as Colonel Carter nodded her head, "she did her job and, and it's not really a life anymore on the surface."

"I'm aware, sir" said Willow, "I came into this reality in Sunnydale. I met with General Landry and he gave me an idea of what's going on."

"I see" said the President, "we don't know how many we lost or…."

"I'm sorry, sir" said the Willow as she looked at the President, an then at Colonel Cater, "there's an alien outpost that I used to contact Heimdall, I also used that outpost to check up on the planet."

"And?" asked the Colonel while Heimdall worked at another console. The alien knew what the redhead was doing to say, he and his people have been watching Earth deteriorate…. But without a consensus by the Council, or a call for help from the highest ranking individual of government, there was nothing they could do. Taking action would also alert the Goa'uld to their presence, and that was something they didn't need while their war with the replicators was still ongoing.

"Eighty million, that how many are left" said Willow as the President and the Colonel grabbed onto the consoles so that they didn't fall onto the floor. Willow continued to tell them about the radiation poisoning of the air, as well as of the water.

"My.. my brother" said The Colonel as she stumbled to another console, "my… my sister-in-law, my nieces…. Eighty million… dear God…. We hand over six billion lives.. and.. and now."

Just then, Heimdall's ship jumped out of hyperspace and entered the orbit of a planet. The President walked over to the window and looked at the planet before as he started to tear up, however his tears were not one of joy. It was of anguish on hearing that nearly ninety eight percent of the population was lost; all killed. He knew what happened, the First had told him everything about how Buffy opened the Hellmouth in a last ditch effort to defeat it but failed. He then heard from Buffy herself what happened soon after he, and the others who were hiding out at Area 51 regained limited communications with the outside world, and General Landry had gotten in touch with her.

He wiped his eyes as his mind tried to wrap around the figures in regards to the people who died. But now, now he couldn't worry about any of that. He looked at the reflection on the mirror of Colonel Carter sobbing while being comforted by Willow, and he knew that this would hit the blonde officer hard. She was isolated from all the death that occurred on the surface, but coming face to face with reality is hurting her.

The President wiped his eyes again before he sniffled and turned around. He was still the leader of the free world and now they may have a chance to save whoever remains.

'But protecting Miss Summers will be difficult if the First blabbed to people what she did' though the President to himself, 'if people knew… angry, mob, they'll want her head… oh dear God, Henry.. stop it. No more death…. From I have been told Miss Summers saved this world numerous times and… and God forgive but I'll try to protect her.'

"Sir" said Willow as she looked at the President whose eyes were red while the Colonel was quietly sobbing on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, but…. it's something that needed to be said."

"It's…" said the President as his voice broke before he coughed and spoke again, "It's alright. We save whoever we can now and… and I assume there's a plan?"

"Yes" said Willow, "but explaining it would take a lot of time. Suffice it to say, I'm going to download the entire repository of knowledge created by a race called the Ancients. Then Heimdall will beam me into one of the medical pods and connect my mind to the ship's computer. I'll them sift through the database and download the knowledge needed into the computer."

"And then I will disconnect her after wiping the knowledge from her mind" said Heimdall as he looked at Colonel Carter wiping her eyes before pulling away from Willow. HE then looked at Willow and asked her if she was sure about this, "the human mind can only hold so much, even if your body is that of a near ascended Ancient."

"What?" asked the Colonel as she sniffed, "Major?"

"Heimdall will tell you everything, ma'am… sir" said Willow before looking at Heimdall and nodding her head, "Heimdall, my commanding officer was a human, and he downloaded it into his mind twice. I can do it."

"Very well" said Heimdall as he moved to another console.

"Beam me back after sixty seconds" said Willow as Heimdall nodded his head.

"I have locked onto a transmitter in your arm" said Heimdall as Willow nodded her head, "stand by."

The President and the Colonel watched as Willow vanished in a beam of bright white light. They then turned towards each other as Colonel Carter apologized for her breakdown earlier, that it was unprofessional to do it in front of her Commander-in-Chief.

"Don't be foolish, Major" said the President, "if you didn't cry, I'd be very worried."

"I am sorry about the loss of so many of your people" said Heimdall as the President, and Colonel Carter, turned to look at him, "my people are a dying race as well, the genes within Major Rosenberg are the only hope we have left of saving my race."

"I'm sorry about your race too" said the President.

"However," said Heimdall, "the both of you have been gifted an opportunity to save the remaining people on your planet. If the Council agrees, we can help you save whoever remains… as well as reverse the damage done to your environment. Your dead, however…"

"I guessed that" said Colonel Carter.

"Speak from your heart, President Hayes" said Heimdall, "the Asgard want to hear from you. I believe that what the Major said was true, that she will be able to help us defeat the replicators. And once we have put them on the back foot, I will petition Thor to take as many ships as possible to render aid."

"If the Council disagrees?" asked Colonel Carter.

"Major Rosenberg has her own ideas, I believe" said Heimdall, "either way, your people have a fighting chance."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Deep Space, billions of light years away from the Milky Way.**

The vast majority of humanity has been unaware of two great powers existing in the higher plains of existence. Once group being the Others, or as some would call the Ancients; beings who were one humans who reached a point in their evolutionary place in not requiring a physical body, instead they lived as pure energy with enormous power, and great knowledge. Their one rule was never to have any higher being interrupt the natural evolution of the lower plains of existence.

The Ancients, or the Alterra as they were once known, reached the Milky Way from their home galaxy and, after several hundred years of exploration in the galaxy after making their home on Earth, which included the building of a massive spaceship that would follow thousands of seed ships that were sent out into the universe, they began wholehearted research into ascension. Many of them would ascend, and then the next generation would continue the work of the previous generation; and those who were able to would ascend.

This would go on until a deadly plague hit the Milky Way galaxy and killed nearly every Ancient in the galaxy. More Ancient's ascended, while others died, and others left the Milky Way in their great city-ship; a city that would later work into stories of myths and legends. Before they left, the Ancients worked on a last ditch effort to find a cure, an effort that was guided by the ideas of the mystical sects of the Furling race. A great gateway that would be powered by the Earth itself, and using the quantum technology of the Ancients. However, it was an experiment that failed. The Ancients found that the mystical sects needed the gateway opened to increase their understanding of mystical powers and so, with heavy hearts, they left their home galaxy. On the way out of the galaxy, the Ancients destroyed all life in the Milky Way using the Dakara Superweapon so that the plague that nearly ended their race would be eradicated. They set the weapon on a timer so that another wave would recreate life, planting the seeds of human life on Earth. The Ancients were gone from the planet that had been their home for millions of years.

Thousands of years after they left, creatures that would be the precursors to the demons, and monsters of legend, forced themselves through the gateway into Earth. However, some of the creatures that came through considered themselves to be on the side of good, even before there was good and evil. They knew that most of the creatures who came though the gateway had bad intentions, that they wished for darkness where the others wanted the light to shine through. Eventually, the forces of darkness grew too powerful and the forces that were fighting for light fled the Earth, and entered another dimension. From there, they sought to find a way to help the forces of good. However, it was easier said than done. They had entered a higher plain that was made up of mystical energy, and the use of that energy forced the Ancients to come down on them. The forces of good, which some would later call the Powers that Be, were told of the rules that higher beings would have to live by… that free will was to be respected above all else, and that humanity; when they managed to evolve again would be responsible for his, or her, destiny. There would be no interference on either party over the evolutionary destiny of the planet.

The Powers agreed for the most part; they were able to find areas were the Ancients were unable to see them work their will; leaving clues and prophesies for their champions when humanity would eventually evolve. They would then convert very few demons to their cause, and become their messenger in selecting, or informing chosen champions of their will. All of this would be done covertly, under the noses of the Ancients. Therefore, interactions with the lower life forms on the lower plains were kept to an absolute minimum. There was no sense in enraging the Ancients; instead they silently guided their champions and messengers through prophesies, ghosts, and visions. They watched as the Earth went through all her phases of development… they saw the first humans evolve.. they witnessed the Furlings returning to help the early humans beat back the darkness. They saw the early humans learning mystics from the Furlings… they saw the birth of the one who would be eventually named Sineya, they saw Athena do everything in her power to stop the mystical sects of the Furlings, some of whom found their prophecy of the Slayer, and try to prevent it from happening.

They watched as the demons killed the clones for their life-force, they looked on… some sadly… at the death of innocents before Athena begged for Sineya's life. They saw Hera offer Sineya ascension after her death, then they witnessed the creation of the weapon they had prophesized millions of years ago. They saw Sineya's power, and were proud. They saw her death, and her refusal to ascend; to instead help her successors. The Powers saw everything, and they had placed prophesies that would extend to millions of years in the future placed covertly by their messengers in various parts of the planet. However, none of them saw what Buffy was going to do next. The descendent of the child of prophesy, was going to break every rule in the book. They looked in shock as their champions were killed by the First Evil, they looked in shock as Buffy opened the Hellmouth, and then fail to beat back the Turok-Han and the First after activating all the Slayers. They saw the end of the world. They were witness to the apocalypse as billions died. A few million demons had murdered billions of humans. They watched the world fall, and knew that they couldn't do anything; and that the Ancients wouldn't do anything.

But then something strange happened. Another Willow appeared in their reality… a Willow from a different reality who could hold the keys to defeating the demons, and saving the people who remained. But this needed the combined efforts of two groups of higher beings. And there was a Power who came to a decision.

It was on the accretion disk of a black hole that a figure stood covered in blue light as it watched transfixed at the matter swirling around her. When she was alive, she had never known that the view of the stars, the planets, and even black holes would be so beautiful. She knew that the other Powers still feared the creatures that were coming through the gateway. While she had fear in her heart, she pushed it back as she thought about her human life. She thought about the battles she fought, she thought about the person she loved, she thought about the friends she was so cruelly taken away from. She had seen Faith die, and cried for her; she watched Dawn die, and she cried for her as well; helpless to do anything before she left the lower plains and watched from above. The thought of watching the others die broke her heart, but she was unable to do anything as fear gripped the Powers. They had been working from the shadows for so long that they were unwilling to let go of that fear.

"You do not belong here" said another figure as it appeared next to her enveloped in white light.

"I have come to ask for help" said the figure in blue, "the Powers are unwilling to use their powers but…"

"You know the Others will stop you. The humans of Earth have free will to fight the demons.. or to surrender. We cannot interfere in that decision" said the figure in white as it floated forward, "and we know about the other Willow. Not only have her powers been negated for now, she is human. If she somehow manages to regain her powers in this reality, we will not interfere as she is not ascended. But know that even if you descended to the lower plains, the Powers will not help you anyway.. we know of the fear that grips them; and you know why we will not."

"I can keep my powers" said the blue figure as she looked at the white light, "but I am unable to do much on my own. And I am aware that the other Willow, does not have access to her powers. Instead, I am asking for the aid of the Others to help her fight, help the military in Sunnydale fight. They have hours to live and… there is no way to know how long the alternate Willow will take. Please give anyone who's listening this message… I'm willing to descend with my powers… I just need help. Please."

The blue figure could see the white light fluctuation before it steadied.

"The humans in the milky way are technically the children of the Alterra" said the blue figure, "please. You know how long the humans have… I'm asking you for help. I'm asking for an alliance."

"You are the only one here" said the white figure.

"The others are afraid to go up against the First" said the blue figure, "I'm sure there are some who will join me, but… but we can't do it all by ourselves. We need the Alterra. Please."

"I will speak to the Others" said the figure, "that is all I can promise you."

The figure covered in blue light pulsed before vanishing. The figure in white turned towards the black hole and smiled as the light dimmed to reveal a redhead in a gold and white dress. She sensed that the blue figure was gone before looking over her shoulders.

She smiled even more when three figures dressed in white appeared before her.

"You should have told her that the Others approved limited interference" said one figure.

"You were afraid that she'll back out at the last moment, didn't you?" asked the second figure.

"Limited interference" said the older redhead, as she looked back at the black hole again, "I never thought I would see the day."

"Earth was once home to most of the Others" said the third figure, "seeing it look that…. It took the other Willow coming here, telling Buffy and the others what she knew for them to approve some interference."

"But the human's have to do most of the work themselves" said the redhead.

"Mel, she's all yours" said the second figure.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, three hours after Major Willow was beamed onto the Mjolnir; 2215 hours (Approximately eight hours until attack)**

Buffy had already checked in on Willow who was seating cross-legged, and floating, over a circle of symbols while she kept her eyes shut. It seemed to Buffy, as she looked at her best friend, that the redhead was in a deep meditative state. Earlier, Buffy told Willow about what her counterpart did, and was even more surprised when she met the clones as they walked towards her, surprise on their faces evident even though Major Willow told them that there was another of her in that reality. Willow looked at the Angel look-alike, and then at Buffy, and then at the Angel look-a-like before giving her best friend a grin.

After meeting the clones, Buffy had taken Willow around the base as the new personnel, including a few Slayers from different bases, were being briefed by various officers, and even Xander. It wasn't too long before Willow went back to her room which she, Amy and Harkness had surrounded with charms that would temporarily keep the First away for a little while.

Now, Buffy just looked at Willow while leaning on the door before turning around and closing the door behind her. She walked alone through the base at night as she looked at whatever stars she could see that shone through the red covering, and wondered if what Major Willow said was true.

'Are you somewhere up there, mom?' thought Buffy to herself as she put her head down and scanned the horizon with her eyes for any movement. She then continued her walk as she passed Xander, and a few Slayers who were fawning over him while he tried to keep them away. She wondered where Liam was when she heard Xander call her.

"Buffy?" asked Xander as the blonde Slayer walked past him while the Slayers looked at him as if they were smitten, "some help here?"

"Sorry, Xan" said Buffy laughing as she looked at Xander before walking away. She then walked past Robin who was sitting alone on a crate that used to contain missile launchers as he looked up into the distance.

"Hey, you alright?" asked Buffy.

"Just thinking" said Robin, "this could be our last time on Earth."

"Willow… I mean the other Willow's coming back" said Buffy, "she said that…."

"I have a bad feeling it's going to be too late" said Robin as he looked at Buffy, before he motioned at their surroundings, "even with these heavy weapons, even with all these Slayers here…. do you really think we can hold out for long? Let's say she doesn't make it back in time… do you….."

"We fight" said Buffy, "we fight and we don't give up fighting. Look at us, Robin… look around us. We were ready for the end…. But now we have a fighting chance. General Landry's talking to that other guy Willow beamed in from Peterson's Air Base… umm.. General Hammond? I think.. yeah…. He and Hank are discussing plans with Riley, Giles and Agatha. With what the other Willow said…. I think we can win…. I think we can hope to win. And we have those clones.. so… yeah."

"Hope" said Robin as he leaned back and looked at Buffy, "I don't know….."

"Robin?" asked Buffy as everything around her melted away and she found herself standing at the edge of a pier as she jumped back so that she wouldn't fall. Confused, Buffy found herself looking at a vast ocean as she took a few more steps back. The blonde Slayer wasn't sure if this was a dream, or a vision; especially since she could feel a breeze brushing past her that carried the smell of the ocean. She could even hear the waves crashing against the pier. It was then that the scent of strawberries wafted through to her nostrils from behind her. Turning around, she stepped beck surprised at not just the red haired woman in a white and gold dress walking towards her, but the towers behind her as well. Thousands of towers that surrounded a high central tower.

"Greetings, Buffy Summers" said the woman as Buffy looked back at her and went into a defensive stance. She saw the woman stop before she raised both hands and smiled at her. Buffy could tell that there was something familiar about the woman, but she couldn't put her finger on it; all she knew right now was that she could be the First Evil using a gift of a witch she killed, "I am not the one you call the First Evil, Miss Summers. My name is Melina, and I am here to talk to you."

"That's what the First would say" said Buffy as she took another step back while looking at Melina, and then at the towers behind her, before looking at Melina again.

"Where do you think the First could have found out about the towers behind me?" asked Melina as she looked back at the towers behind her, "this city was built before the gateways you know as hellmouth's were created. This city was used by the Alterra to leave for another galaxy, the one you know as Willow Rosenberg informed you of this fact did she not?"

"Ye.. yea" said Buffy, still in her defensive stance.

"This city was, and still is, the crown jewel of my civilization."

"Wait" said Buffy, "you're an Alterra?"

"We called ourselves Lanteans after we arrived at our new home" said Melina as she looked back at Buffy, "during our hundred year war with the Wraith, this city became a symbol of hope, a beacon of light that shone through the darkness that the Wraith represented. We lost the war due to their ever increasing numbers, and returned to Terra; leaving hope behind. The other humans are living… just living in fear of the day the Wraith return. They look for my people to return one day and help them fight against the Wraith, but there is a closer war to be fought."

"I don't understand" said Buffy.

"Hope will rise again" said Melina as she walked towards Buffy, "Athena will bring her back home to help fight the coming night. A night that is approaching faster than you know."

"You're not the First?" said Buffy still unsure.

"I am not" said Melina shaking her head, "nut the First is coming sooner than you expect…"

"But Willow…" said Buffy, "she…"

"She will be here" said Melina, "you must fight, Miss Summers. She will bring hope home."

"This city is called Hope?" asked Buffy.

"The people of Pegasus called her many names" said Melina, "the Grey City, the City of Towers, the City of the Ancestors… your people, in another time and place, would have called her the Lost City of the Ancients."

"Excuse me?" asked Buffy, "another time, and place?"

"I am able to see" said Melina as she gave Buffy a smile, "I am able to see your future, the future of your kind. So many branches that lead to alternate futures. I am able to see what could have been, and I glimpsed at thoughts from the alternate version of your friend. Miss Summers, I know what will happen if you do not fight, and I know what happen if you do fight. If you fight with all your heart, you will win a great battle, however there will be a great loss. But if you lose, you lose everything. What will you do?"

"What will I lose?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not" said Buffy as she put her hands down and relaxed before rubbing her head; regret pasted on her face, "I made a mistake, and I want to fix it."

"Then fight, Miss Summers" said Melina as she put her hand on Buffy's shoulder, "fight."

"I need help, we need help" said Buffy.

"She is coming" said Melina, "hope is coming, you just need to hold on fighting."

"Buffy?"

"I will" said Buffy as Melina vanished, as did the ocean and the city of towers. Buffy looked around and found herself looking at the Army base, and then at Robin who looked at her in worry.

"Buffy? you were out for a few seconds… something wrong?"

"Get everyone" said Buffy as she blinked her eyes, "the First's coming sooner than we expect, we need to get ready."

"But…"

"Get Xander and start getting ready" said Buffy, "I gotta go talk to the others."

"But…"

"Move it!" said Buffy as she ran, leaving behind a confused Robin who scratched his head before standing up and heading towards Xander.

"Hope" said Buffy as she ran, "hope is coming…. Please…. We all need hope."

 **Orilla, Ida Galaxy, at the same time.**

Colonel Samantha Carter was looking into a mirror in the building that contained the Asgard High Council. She couldn't believe what the past few hours had brought up as she checked her dress blues, the formal Air Force dress uniform that she had been scanned for, and then the Asgard had a set replicated for the Colonel, as well as a suit for the President, and a fresh set of tactical gear and BDU's for Willow.

The Colonel shook her head before reminding herself that she was on another planet, in another galaxy that was only thirty minutes away from the Milky Way. It was something that she was wrapping her mind around, and she made a mental note to talk to Heimdall later about the technology.

'I need to keep my mind busy in the meantime."

It had taken them thirty minutes to reach Orilla after Willow downloaded the Ancient database into her mind. The Colonel remembered watching the redhead materialise into the medical pod back on Heimdall's ship before he connected her mind to the ship's computers, and then scanned her DNA. She and the President listened on as the grey alien told them about the Alterra, the Ancients, the war against the replicators and then he told them about the Alliance of Four Great Races. The Colonel and the President looked on before they jumped back as Willow used the ship's holographic emitters to project a body for herself as she, and Heimdall, then talked to the Colonel and President Hayes.

It wasn't too long before Willow made one of the Ancient weapons after her brain which, unconsciously, sought out the best way to kill the replicators. Once Willow was revived, Heimdall received a notification from Thor; that his ship was already boarded and that the replicators had taken over most systems, except for navigation, Communications, and life support. He ordered Heimdall to head to the galactic void and meet up with the rest of the fleet; that he was to be placed in charge of them as they left for a new home.

"Thor" Colonel Carter remembered Willow say while she looked herself in the mirror, "my name is Major Willow Rosenberg."

"Yes" said Thor, "Heimdall has told us about you, Major. I am sorry that we have finally met under these circumstances."

"Thor" said Heimdall, 'I have unlocked her DNA, and copied the protein marker data."

"I leave it to you to rescue what remains of our people, Heimdall" said Thor.

"Wait" said President Hayes as he looked at both aliens, "there must be… I'm sorry… I am President Henry Hayes of the United States, Earth…. Anyway, can't we do anything?"

"I am sorry, President Hayes" replied Thor, "but…."

"Thor" said Willow excitedly as the Colonel looked at the redhead, "are the replicators all over your ship?"

"Yes" said Thor, "which is why…"

"How long can you hold out?" asked Willow.

"We will lose communication and navigation by the time you arrive" said Thor.

"Heimdall" said Willow as she looked at the other alien, "how long for the beaming technology to create the weapon that would blast a wave at the entire planet?"

"Ten minutes" said Heimdall, "and another two to charge it."

"Ma'am" said Willow as she grinned at her superior officer, "feel up to an adventure?"

The Colonel smiled as she looked in the mirror when she thought about what happened the first few seconds after they got out of hyperspace. Ceding to Willow's knowledge about the Asgard ships, the Colonel looked on as the redhead told Thor about her crazy idea.

'She actually said crazy idea' thought the Colonel as she stifled a laugh, 'Thor, and Heimdall's faces were…. Well, expressionless.'

The Colonel remembered the Major showing her how to use the replicator disruptor, while herself used the Asgard beaming technology to create some C-4 charges, a belt of grenades, and high calibre weapons, as well as the required ammo. The Colonel then watched as Willow asked Thor to pull up a schematic of his ship onto Heimdall's console before pointing out areas where the Asgard should beam in the C-4 charges after Thor turns off the Explosion Suppression Systems.

"So the high energy output attracts the replicators?" asked Colonel Carter as Willow nodded her head, before pointing in another area where Thor said the replicators had already taken over; the secondary control room.

"So" said the Colonel, "let me get this straight, we break in and then Heimdall goes back into hyperspace with the President so that they're not attacked while the larger weapon continues to be built… then we make the replicators blocks we encounter inert…"

"Or smashed using kinetic energy weapons" said Willow while the President could just look at the two women.

"And then get into the secondary control room" said the Colonel, "hopefully there will be a few replicators in the room. We go in.. lock the door, kill the replicators inside. Then Thor takes control, locks out that room… and beams us out. That about it?"

"Yes, ma'am" said Willow with a grin.

"Easy peasy then" said the Colonel.

"Major, Colonel" said the President, "good hunting."

Almost immediately after the Mjolnir exited hyperspace, six C-4 charges where beamed into Thor's ship. The high energy output of the transporters attracted the replicator bugs to the sites of the C-4 charges before they exploded after about a minute, and with the ship suppression systems deactivated.. each explosion took out hundreds of replicators at one go. It was a few seconds later that the Major and Willow were beamed onto a hallway close to the secondary control room before the Mjolnir went back into hyperspace. Hearing the sounds of metallic feet coming towards them from the rear, the Colonel and Willow remembered the map of Thor's ship and ran as fast as they could to the control room where the doors were already open and replicator bugs were heading towards them.

"A few?" shouted the Colonel as she fired the disruptor while replicators came out of the room, "really? A few? This is your definition of a few?"

"Kinda?" squeaked Willow as she fired while the both of them continued to rush forward stepping over spent cases and replicator blocks before entering the secondary control room where there were replicators all over the place. Willow pulled the pins of all her grenades before throwing them into the hallway at the approaching replicators, and the stepped back and locked the door while the Colonel shot at the replicators until they were inert. Willow then notified Thor to transfer control to the bridge and lock out the secondary room. Once Thor said that it would take a few minutes, Willow and the Colonel looked at each other when they heard a loud bang, followed by more metallic legs hitting the floor outside the door a few seconds later. The both of them then started firing when the replicators broke through.

'Even got injured' thought the Colonel as she walked back and sat on the bed, 'but it was a rush, haven't felt something like that since the Gulf War. Guess that was nothing compared to what's going on now.'

Standing up when there was a knock on her door, the Colonel asked whoever it was to come in.

"Colonel Carter" said Heimdall, "the Council will see you now."

"Let's go" said the Colonel as she followed Heimdall out of the room.

TBC.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sunnydale Army Base, 2220 hours (Eight hours until attack)**

As Buffy ran towards one of the primary buildings, she remembered General Hammond's reaction to finding out who Buffy was after General Landry introduced her to the bald man as the leader of the Scoobies, and the Slayers. Buffy remembered the man being cold towards her after asking her if she was the same Buffy that the First was telling him about when it appeared to him as one of his grandchildren. Once Buffy confirmed that yes, she was the same person the First was talking about, he asked if it was worth it since she thought that she could make decisions on the fate of billions of people by herself. He asked her what right she had to make the decision to open such a dangerous thing such as the Hellmouth. It was General Landry and Giles who came to her defence, saying that what's done was done, that the deaths of people around the globe was already on her conscience; that she just wanted to fix things. Buffy herself knew that General Hammond was right, that if she had reached out to the Council earlier, or the military, and tried to convince them that Potential Slayers were being targeted… that something bad was coming… maybe then they would have been able to help her.

'But all of that is history now' thought Buffy to herself as she ran, 'the world we knew is gone, I caused it to happen… I opened the Hellmouth thinking we could hold back, and defeat, the First's army. I was wrong, and we paid the price for it.'

"Now things change" said Buffy just before she entered the building where the two Generals, Giles and Riley stopped talking and turned towards her.

"Buffy?" said Giles whose broken arm was still in a sling, "what's…."

"The… The First" said Buffy as she ran up to them and looked at Giles, "Giles, the First is going to attack."

"What?" asked Giles as he looked back at the others and then at Buffy.

"Miss Summers" said General Landry, "what are you talking about?"

"I.. I had a vision" said Buffy as she waved her hands about, "maybe not a vision.. I don't know what it was. But I was somewhere else… I met an Alterra."

"One of those aliens that this Major from another reality talked about?" asked General Hammond.

"I thought Willow said that they won't interfere in the lower plains.. or something?" asked Riley.

"How can you be sure that it wasn't the First Evil?" asked Giles, "Buffy, I know your visions have been accurate when they came to you before, but…"

"She said her name was Melina" said Buffy, "and… and I saw a city behind her. A city of towers that…. Giles, look, she said that it was the city that they used to leave this galaxy. She said that during some war, the city was hope for millions of people. She said that hope will rise, and Willow will bring home hope. That's what she said.. Willow will bring hope."

"Mr. Giles" said General Hammond as the ex-Watcher turned and looked at the bald man, "do you trust her visions?"

"They've never let us down" said Giles as he turned back to Buffy who gave him a small smile.

"Miss Summers" said General Landry, "inform Miss Madison and Miss Harkness that we need to see them, and report back here as well. We need to know how much longer it would take for them to come up with something that would collapse Sunnydale into the Hellmouth, especially if your vision is correct."

"It is" said Buffy as the General nodded his head before she left the room. The remaining people in the room then looked at each other.

"So?" asked General Hammond as he looked at Giles, "can we trust her, honestly?"

"Yes" said Giles, "General, one thing you need to know about Buffy is…."

"By our accounts" said General Hammond, "before the world went to hell, literally…. We estimates that billions of people could have perished because of her foolhardiness. Like it or not, she was complicit in the murder of those men, women and children and…"

"Don't you think she knows that!?" exclaimed Giles, "it's in her eyes, I can see her regret… and she's doing everything she could so that she doesn't go insane. She's saved this world countless times and…."

"General, Mr. Giles" said General Landry as he looked at the both of them, "what's done is done. We…. we have to try and save the people who are alive in the here and now. Now, MR. Giles said that Miss Summers' visions can be trusted so… so we make plans for an early attack by the First. It would pay to be prepared even if the attack doesn't come."

As she was running away from the building towards Harkness and Amy's quarters, Buffy heard everything that General Hammond, and Giles, had said.

"They're right' thought Buffy to herself, 'they're right. This is my fault, and I have to live with this for the rest of my life and… and if I stop now… I'm going to lose it.'

Once Buffy told Harkness and Amy that they were needed by the two General's, and that she'll meet them there after she's checked in on Willow. After nodding their heads, and leaving the blonde Slayer to run to Willow's quarters where the redhead was meditating. Opening the door to the room, Buffy opened her eyes in shock before she ran in upon seeing Willow lying on her side in the floor and panting hard with her eyes closed.

"Will" said Buffy as she kneeled down and help Willow sit up, "what happened? Are you alright?"

"I can't do it, Buffy" said Willow shaking her head, "I… the spell… it pulls me deep into myself and.. and I'm afraid that I'll lose control."

"Will" said Buffy when Willow interrupted her.

"We're talking about the source of the Slayer's power" said the redhead, "I.. I don't know if I can… going deep into my memories… finding that girl… then calling on the First Slayer herself… I don't know… I really don't know. I'm scared Buffy, I'm scared of what will happen if I go black eyes, veiny face and… black hair…"

"Willow" said Buffy as she gently grabbed onto the redhead's shoulder, "the First will be attacking soon, we… we don't know when… but soon."

"You had a vision?" asked Willow as she looked at Buffy who nodded her head.

"Will" said Buffy, "I need you to do this, we need you to do this… you're the only one who can."

"I'm afraid, Buffy" said Willow, "remember the last time what happened when we tried to do the unification spell against Adam?"

"This time you're finding out about the girl" said Buffy, "and then asking the First Slayer for permission to share her power with us. The other time, against Adam, we forced the First to share her power… and she became angry because of it. She said that only one of us was supposed to be fighting.. not all of us together. Willow, you are the one who activated the Slayers… you are the one who re-ensouled Angel, and you are the one I have faith in to do this."

"There's the other me" said Willow as Buffy smiled.

"But you're my Willow" said Buffy as she kissed Willow's cheek before looking into her emerald eyes, "you're my Willow, and I know you can do this."

Buffy then kissed Willow's forehead before she told the redhead that she needed to go. That they were planning a defence and she was needed. Nodding her head, Willow watched Buffy get up before walking away. Just before she closed the door behind her, Buffy looked back and told Willow that she had every confidence in her to do what needed to be done. The redhead smiled at Buffy before the door closed.

Willow then started to reset the materials that the spell required, including the candles that had toppled over. She replaced some of the mystical powder, the candles, and the incense before she sat cross-legged and started the ritual once again as she closed her eyes. However, she opened them again when she felt a presence in the room; she looked on with eyes wide open as she saw the First in Tara's form standing in front of the closed door as she reached behind, and locked it.

"You can scream all you want" said the First as it walked towards Willow who felt as if she couldn't move, as if her muscles had gotten stiff. It was then she realized that the First was using Tara's powers as it walked towards her, "they can't get to you in time. Your charms are useless now, my love."

"He…. Hel….. Help" whispered Willow as she felt herself being strangled as the First held out her hand towards Willow's throat. The redhead was scratching her own throat and trying to get rid of the confusion in her mind that was preventing her from conjuring something, anything that would alert the others and protect herself.

"Willow, baby" said the First as she crouched in front of Willow and looked into her emerald eyes as they began to water while her lips started to turn blue, "do you remember you putting me under a spell? Do you remember making love to me while you used your magic to make me forget all our fights? Baby?"

The first then grabbed Willow's throat with both hands and squeezed as she struggled to call for help.

"Confusion spell, honey" said the First as Willow squirmed, "you raped me… so it's time I paid you back and…."

Suddenly there was a flash of white light as the First was pushed away from Willow, and then slammed onto the floor. IN shock, Willow panted for breathe as the First, still in Tara's form, slowly got up from the floor and stared at Willow with rage showing on her face.

"What did you do?" asked the First, "you bitch… what did you do?"

"I…. I…" said Willow as she struggled for breath, "was… wasn't…"

"I will kill you.. like I should have killed the other one and…" said the First as it rushed towards Willow when a white shield surrounded the redhead, leaving both beings looking at each other in surprise. Then there was the sound of a click as both of them watched the door unlock, and then open, followed by the base alarm blaring with Willow's voice saying that help was needed in her quarters. However, Willow was still struggling for breath under the white shield that was deflecting the First's magical energy bolts, before it pounded on the field; so neither one of them was able to pull the alarm, or speak into the microphone to call for help.

"Willow!" shouted Xander, Buffy and Kennedy, who was carrying the scythe, together as they arrived at Willow's door, followed by Riley, Giles, the two witches, the three clones and the Two General's… as well as three Marines who were with them while they began to discussing plans. All of them saw the First in Tara's form screaming as it pounded on the shield which continued to flare white with each hit. It was a few seconds later that the still shocked audience saw the First step back while glaring at Willow, and then turned and looked at all the people behind her; especially at the two Slayers who were ready for battle.

"I don't know what you did" said the First as it looked at Willow again, "but I will find out when I kill you… and then, I will eat your soul."

Willow could only look at the First before she grabbed her chest, willing her heart to stop pounding. The First then looked at Buffy and the others and told them that she'll come earlier than any of them imagined, "all of you will die, I will build my kingdom on your bones…. My army is coming. Forty thousand of mine, twenty thousand from the Three coming here to smash all of you into oblivion. And then, and then we attack the other humans. We've let you scum live on long enough…. this world belongs to me and my children now. Do what you want to do until then, enjoy the last moments of your lives; eat, drink, be merry, screw each other's brains out… but know that all of you will die.

The group watched the First turn itself inside out before becoming a towering robed demon that growled at them before vanishing. It was then that Buffy, Xander and Kennedy rushed into the room as the shield flashed, before it coalesced into a small sphere of bright white light. Xander, Buffy and Kennedy stopped just before they reached Willow, while the others just looked on transfixed at the light as it floated around Willow who was looking at it in surprise before she started giggling when the light brushed her face, her arms and flew through her hair.

"Will?" asked Kennedy pointing at the light, "what's with the lite-brite?"

"It's my light" said Willow as the sphere stopped moving and just floated in front of Willow. She cupped her hands outwards as the light floated in between them, leading Willow to smile when she felt the warmth coming from the light, "when I was a kid, my parents would rarely be at home. I was looked after by a nanny for most of the time, and even then, I was lonely. When I felt lonely, I'd see this light from the corner of my eyes and…"

"You told me" said Xander nodding his head, "it happened whenever you were alone. You told your parents and they said that you were imagining it."

"You said the same thing too, Xander" smirked Willow as she looked up at Xander, and then at the light, "when I was alone… I remember you from the corner of my eyes. Was it you?"

Willow smiled as the light bobbed up and down, as if nodding yes.

"You left me" said Willow as the light floated towards her face, and brushed her cheek before floating back.

"When did it leave you?" asked Harkness as she walked into the room and kneeled in front of Willow.

"When I met Buffy" said Willow as the light pulsed as she just stared at the light.

"You weren't alone anymore" said Harkness as she looked at the light, and then at Willow, "and you aren't alone now, either."

The light then pulsed again.

Willow looked at the light and smiled as warmth went through her body. She could feel her mind calming as something pulled on her soul. With eye's that were getting heavy, Willow looked at the light as her vision started to blur. She then saw the light rush up towards the ceiling when suddenly, everything went dark.

"Your spell worked, Willow" said a voice in the distance that only Willow could hear as her head hit the floor, "you will see the truth."

 **Orilla, Ida Galaxy, at that same time.**

President Henry Hayes, Colonel Carter and Willow were in a large room looking up at five members of the Asgard High Council. The Colonel and the President looked at each other, and then around them as four more Asgard beamed onto seats next to the previous five. It was then that Penegal, the Asgard wearing a gold sash with a crystal around his neck introduced himself, and the others, who were present in the room which included Freyr, Heimdall and Thor.

"Hello" said the President nodding his head, "my name is President Henry Hayes from Earth.. I…. I… wow…. Sorry, the ones next to me are Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, and Major Willow Rosenberg.."

"Greetings President Hayes" said Penegal, "you are the highest ranking leader of your world?"

"I am the leader of one nation, among many on Earth" said the President.

"But not of your entire world?" asked Freyr as the President shook his head.

"Our world is in danger" said the President, "even though I find it hard to believe, creatures known as demons have travelled through to Earth. They've destroyed countries… killed people, toppled governments…. As far as I am aware, I am the highest ranking leader available of the most advanced nation on Earth. And I come here humbly to ask for your help."

Willow and the others heard the other Asgard mumbling among themselves in their own language before they looked at the three humans again.

"I was in the Space Station when the demons came though" said the Colonel after she was asked to recount what she had seen, or experienced after the President talked about his own experienced during the demon invasion, "I heard people die while they told us to stay in orbit and save ourselves. That we'd be safe at least until we died from oxygen deprivation, and…. and we saw huge areas of countries get burned. The sky over the planet became red, and…. and all we could do watch, and stay in contact with whoever was still alive… at least as far as the military was concerned. The technology of your people is amazing, and… and I hope that you will be able to help."

"Major?" said Penegal as he looked at Willow, "you are Athena? Athena from another reality?"

"Yes" said Willow nodding her head. She had already filled in the President and the Colonel on her heritage, and to say that they were surprised was an understatement, especially when she told them that she was born in Atlantis, "I am Athena Ren. I descended to this plain of existence years ago and was physically reborn so that I would have the Furling gene from my mother since I knew I wouldn't have any of my ascended abilities."

"You have another copy here do you not?" asked Freyr.

"Yes" said Willow, "she's the Willow who belongs to this reality."

"Thor and Heimdall's examination of your body showed that you are a clone" said Penegal, "is that true?"

"Yes" said Willow, "in my reality, I was possessed by a Goa'uld known as Anubis. He unlocked the abilities of a near ascended Ancient, and that amount of power was breaking my body apart. My organs were failing, and I was dying. Thor and Heimdall, at least the ones from my reality, cloned me a new body that could handle the strain. It was then they discovered that the interaction of both of my Furling and Ancient genes created a protein marker that would help save their race. And as far as I know, it's working."

"As far as you know?" asked another Asgard.

"We haven't heard from the Asgard in a while" said Willow, "which isn't surprising since the galaxy's at war."

"The Goa'uld?" asked Penegal.

"We defeated the Goa'uld" said Willow as the Asgard mumbled among themselves in surprise while the President and the Colonel looked up at the group of grey aliens, "we helped the Asgard defeat the replicators, in return for that.. your people gifted us with Hyperdrive, and shield technology that we are now using to build ships to explore the galaxy, the Jaffa are free, the remaining System Lords are either dead, or in hiding. Now, we are in a war with the Ori… the ascended cousins of the Alterra."

"The Ancients" said Thor.

"Yes" replied Willow as she looked at him, "I need to return not just for the fact that there is another me here, but also because I need to return to help my friends, and my family, fight the armies of the Ori from taking over the galaxy."

"Major" said Penegal, "how did you come to this reality?"

Willow then explained to them the details of the plan to build the Sangraal and have it sent to the Ori galaxy to kill the ascended beings. She told them that she was using her powers to fight the Orici, who was getting the better of her. She told them that she ascended for a few seconds before she interfered, and then was pulled back and kicked out of her reality, and into this one, as punishment.

It was Penegal who told Willow that it would take at most three days to find a safe way to return her back to her own reality after she told them about the alternate SG1's who appeared at the SGC. Willow nodded her head when Penegal said that the replicators had destroyed much of the technology on Orilla and that they would need to rebuild before she could be sent back. Willow then told them about the threat that Anubis played in her reality, and told them what he was; a half ascended Goa'uld. This information brought about murmurs from the High Council as they talked to each other in their own language again. She told them that he was in an energy base form who used holographic shields as a body. Willow told them that he was most likely biding his time, but he would use his knowledge of Ancient technology to strengthen the shields and weapons of his ships to dominate the other Goa'uld, before taking over the Milky Way. She then told them about the weapon on Dakara that had the potential to destroy the entire galaxy and that the Asgard had to do something to prevent Anubis from ever using it.

"With the weapons you have provided us with against the replicators" said Penegal as he looked at Willow, "we have no doubt that we will win the war against the replicators. As for your claims in regards to Anubis, we will discuss among ourselves as to how we can strengthen our shields and weapons. However we still have to rebuild most of our technology."

"Penegal" said Thor who was seated next to the alien, "our guests have arrived."

'Guests?" asked the President as he looked at the Colonel, who then looked at Willow, who in turn shrugged her shoulders before looking at Penegal.

It was a few seconds later that there were three flashes of light behind the three people from Earth. Turning around, the president and Colonel Carter looked in surprise at the three humanoids that were wearing simple clothes, and looked as if there were plants sprouting from their hair and skin.

"The Nox" whispered Willow as she leaned in towards Colonel Carter, and the President.

Thor told the humans that a ship was sent to Gaia to pick up the Nox soon after Orilla was freed from the replicator threat. While Willow didn't recognize the two Nox, she did recognize the third as Lya, the same one who was there the day Willow was cloned. Thor introduced Lya and the Nox delegation to the humans from Earth, before briefing Lya on who Willow was, and the help that she had given them in regards to the protein marker, and the Replicator Disruptor.

"You are living up to the legacy of your people, Athena" said Lya as she bowed her head slightly at Willow in respect, as did the others.

"I was Athena a long time ago, Lya" replied Willow who bowed her head in return, "please just call me Willow."

"I can sense a great power" said Lya as she approached the surprised Willow while she placed her hand on Willow's chest, just over her heart, "I recognize this link, it is something that connects two beings for the rest of their lives."

"What link?" asked Colonel Carter as she stood next to Willow.

"The link still exists?" asked Willow surprised, ignoring the Colonel's question. She had initially thought that the link between her and Faith was severed due to the fact that she was in another reality, and that ever since she came to this reality; there was a throbbing pain in her chest that just wouldn't go away.

"Yes" said Lya as she closed her eyes and tilted her head, "I can sense that it is stretched thin, but still intact. We have technology that will be able to measure its exact frequency so that you can be sent home."

Lya then turned back to the High Council and told them that the Nox would be able to help them with the protein marker; that it was time for the two members of the Alliance of Four to work together on helping to save the Asgard race.

It was then that there was another beeping sound from Penegal's console. He looked down at it and widened his eyes slightly, before looking up again.

"There is an energy field forming" said Penegal as the Nox turned around while Willow pulled Lya and the others away from the shimmer that was appearing before them.

"Get back" said the Colonel as she covered the President while the Asgard looked on curiously, and the Nox stood behind Willow. They could see that the shimmer was slowly taking form as Lya walked up next to Willow ands held her arm.

"Do not be concerned" said the Nox as she watched a figure step out from the shimmer in a red stripped dress.

"Hey Red" said Faith as Willow grinned, "what'cha doing?"

"Faith" said Willow as she rushed towards the Slayer and tried to hug her, instead she passed right through her and ended up on the other side. Faith turned around and grinned at the redhead before turning again and looking at the surprised faces of the President, and Colonel Carter. She then looked at Willow again and grained.

"Major?" asked Colonel Carter as Willow walked around Faith and stood next to her..

"Colonel, Mr. President" said Willow as she motioned towards the figure, "this is Faith Lehane of Stargate Command."

"Henry, Sam" said Faith as she nodded at the President, and Colonel Carter before nodding her head at the Nox while Lya walked towards her.

"You are the one that Athena shares a link with, are you not?" asked Lya as Faith nodded her head.

"Yea" said Faith before looking at the humans, and then at the Asgard, before looking at Willow again.

"What's going on?" asked Faith.

"The Hellmouth is open on Earth" said Willow as Faith's eyes opened wide in shock, "not just one, all of them. Billions are dead, and.. and only about eight million are alive."

"What?" said Faith as she stepped back in shock, "how…..?"

"The High Council said it'll talk three days to get whatever they need to help me get back, with the Nox's help" said Willow.

"Athena has told us about teams from multiple realities entering into your reality" said Thor as Faith nodded her head, "I would suggest that your people prepare the device that was used to close the bridge from your end. That way, once Athena has gone through, you would be able to shut down the bridge between realities."

"I will" said Faith as she turned to Sam, and the President, "I'm so sorry about what's happening right now, but… but we need Red back."

"She'll come home" said the Colonel as she walked with the President, "so you really are from another reality?"

"How did you find the Major?"

"Yes, Faith" said Willow as she scratched her head, "how did you did me?"

"Melina told Jack and the others what was going on" said Faith as Willow smiled, "she mentioned something about our link, and that the best way to get to you was through powerful magic. So once we got back from the Supergate, we beamed down to Angel's office and got Tara to do her things and.. boom… here I am."

"Good girl" whispered Willow as she made a mental note to thank Tara. Willow then looked up at Faith and asked her about the Ori, "did the ship go through the gate?"

"Yea" said the Slayer, "but Red, eight more ships came through. There are now ten Ori ships in the galaxy. And.. and Red, Moros is gone… he saved us but… he's gone… I'm sorry."

Willow closed her eyes and shook her head. She just got her father back, and then she lost him again… this time for good. She knew that with his consciousness out of Daniel's mind, he was dead; and that she'll never see him again. It was that thought that broke her heart, but she pushed the thought away with the knowledge that she'll be able to mourn his loss when she went home; that she had to go home.

"I'm coming home" said Willow as Faith started to fade away.

"Looks like this is the best Tara could do" said Faith a s she looked at her vanishing hands before looking at Willow again, "I.. we'll see you home soon."

"Keep the light on" said Willow as Faith vanished while waving at everyone, "I'm coming home."

Willow then turned around and asked the Council what their decision was on helping Earth, and her.

"Lya and I will start work on a way to get you home, Athena" said Freyr, "as for Earth? The Council requests some time. We are aware of the situation, and we know that what is happening is entirely the doing of human beings. However, we also know that your people have the potential to accomplish great things… the Council will need to deliberate and…"

"We're dying" said the President, "yes, we caused this problem ourselves, and we've tried to fix it by using our own weapons against them but… but there are just too many of them and…. And what we have isn't strong enough. All of our nuclear arsenal has been disabled, and…. And some countries did fire those weapons, but they were immediately disabled."

"President Hayes" said Penegal, "I understand your urgent need for aid, however, with most of our ships beating back the replicator tide in the galaxy, we ask for some time to deliberate. We must ensure that we have enough ships in this galaxy to continue the fight, before committing any resources to the battle against the creatures on Earth. Just know that we are not disagreeing with your request, just requesting time to deliberate on the strength of the forces we can spare."

"Members of the High Council" said Willow as she stood next to the President, "I would like to remind everyone that time is running out, in under twenty hours, the Erath will be overrun… and the humans gone. What they could have been, the potential that the humans of Earth will one day become the fifth race of the Alliance will be gone."

"We are aware of the time constraints, Athena" said Penegal.

"I never meant any disrespect" said Willow, "even though this isn't my reality, Earth is still my home. And… and if the Council feels it may take longer, I request that I be given transport to Pegasus while the President and the Colonel be returned to Earth."

"Hold on there."

"Major?"

"Athena" asked Thor, "are you planning to launch Atlantis?"

"Yes" said Willow as the President and Colonel Carter looked at her surprised, "my father, Moros, he named me as the last High Councilor of the city. I can unlock the entire City, fly it back to Earth and remotely lock on to the weapons outposts on Earth. On the way back, I can pick up a Lantean Warship that is heading to Earth following our loss against the Wraith. There should be about five hundred Lanteans on board the fully armed ship. But… I truthfully don't know if the drones on Earth, or on the ship, will be able to wipe out all the demons… which is why we need the assistance of the Asgard."

"Very well" said Thor, "I will transport you to Pegasus, and then I will transport President Hayes, and Colonel Carter to Earth."

"I should stay on Atlantis with…"

"Sir" said Willow as she interrupted the President, "you're needed on Earth, safe under Area 51. We need a leader to tell everyone that help's coming, that in the meantime, they need to fight and not give up."

"I'll stay with you, Major" said Colonel Carter as Willow nodded her head, "you can't do everything by yourself."

"Ma'am" said Willow, "I don't think…."

"That's a direct order" said the Colonel as Willow nodded her head, "just… just give me something to do."

"How'd you like to fly one of the most advanced fighters ever made?" asked Willow as the Colonel grinned.

"Athena?" asked Thor as Willow looked at the alien, "are you three prepared?"

"Yes" said Willow, Colonel Carter and President Hayes together, "but we need to make a few stops first."

"Stops?" asked the grey alien.

"Ever heard of the term, hit and run?" smiled Willow.

 **The Planet of the Ataniks, Milky Way Galaxy; 35 minutes later. (7 hours 25 minutes to attack.)**

Anise, and her host Freya, have been long serving members of the Tok'ra fighting against the System Lords through subterfuge, and assassination. While conducting research into ways of releasing the hold the System Lords have on the galaxy, Anise found a tale of the Ataniks. A people who were known to display amazing abilities of super strength, and speed. Rumor was that every human ability was super-charged; however, according to her research, the Ataniks mysteriously died off.

During the exploration of a village that the Ataniks used to inhabit hundreds of years ago, the young Tok'ra found four boxes of what seemed to be armbands. She picked up one of the armbands and placed it on her arm. Closing the flaps at the ends around her arm, she expected it to make contact and lock. Instead, nothing happened and the flaps automatically rose up again. Sighing she put the bands into the box of four and closed the lid. She then placed the boxes one of top of another, intending to go back to her lab and run some experiments. As she turned to call her fellow Tok'ra, Anise heard a sound from behind her, a buzzing sound as the four boxes vanished in a flash of white light.

Anise took out her Zat and activated it while looking around her surroundings, but she didn't find anyone.. or sense any symbiote nearby. Deactivating her Zat as the other members of her team ran to her, she looked at the area where the boxes used to be and wondered what was going on.

'Whoever it was' thought Anise to herself, 'why would they require sixteen armbands? Could it be the Goa'uld? No… they never displayed that level of technology but…'

Anise and the other Tok'ra stepped back when there was another flash of light that left a folded piece of white paper on the grass. Her team looked around with their Zats raised and activated while Anise bent down to pick up the paper, and then stand while unfolding it. As she read the contents, her eyes went wide open.

"It… it cant be" said Anise.

"Anise?" asked the male member of her team, "what is it?"

Anise told them to put their Zats down as she read the printed writing, which was written in Goa'uld.

 _This is the Stargate address to a people called the Pangarans. You will find Egeria there. I ask that you help them in refining a drug that they have been using Egeria to make, a drug known as Tretonin. It is deadly for the Pangaran's but it is something that will help free the Jaffa. It is something that will save them from their reliance of symbiotes. Run tests on the drug, you will see that I speak true. Save your queen, help the Pangarans, and free the Jaffa. There is one man that I know who is honorable among the Jaffa of Apophis, his name is Teal'c of Chulak; there is also Master Bra'tac of Chulak. Beware of traitors among the Tok'ra.. share the names of the two Jaffa only with those you trust. I trust Selmak, he is a good Tok'ra… Gershaw too, I guess._

 _Good luck._

 _-A friend (Oh, I know of one possible traitor among your people, his name is Cordesh. Check his quarters, you will possibly find a Goa'uld long range communication device.)_

"A friend?" asked another Tok'ra behind Anise.

"Let us go" said Anise, "I will have the High Council recall Selmak, and I will speak to Gershaw personally. I have handpicked all of you, and I can trust you not to let the others know of this."

"Of course."

"Inform Cordesh's base security" said Anise, "I want him sequestered and his quarters searched."

"Understood."

As the Tok'ra dialed the Stargate, Anise looked behind her again, and then at the letter. If what it said was true, then their future may yet change for the better.

 **Asuras, Pegasus Galaxy, two hours later; 5 hours 25 minutes to attack.**

Niam was one of the replicators formed after the Ancients attempted to destroy all trace of their creation. The replicators were originally microscopic robots that were designed to kill the Wraith from the inside out; the robots would enter the Wraith body and then kill them over time. The nanites were created with high aggression that rivaled the Wraith, so when the nanites took on human form, they begged the Ancients to delete that line of code. However, the Ancients refused, specifically since they had written orders in the replicators base code that prevented them from harming any Lantean. The Ancients eventually saw their experiment as a failure, and destroyed all the replicators on Asuras. Or at least they thought they did. Some nanites survived, and over thousands of years, they became a new civilization all its own. They exactly mirrored the Ancients and their technology, but since they were machines.. they were unable to improve on their technology. They used replicator versions of Aurora class ships to defend their home planet, but used the real technological base of the Ancients when it came to shields, weapons, and energy; particularly their ZPM's that powered the cities on their planet.

Niam was one of the second generation of replicators and, as he worked at Stargate operations in the Asuran's version of Atlantis, he noticed a ship heading towards the planet. Niam was surprised at the speed at which it was coming, and that the ship wasn't detected earlier while it was heading through hyperspace.

Niam raised the alarm as the leader of the Asuaran's, Oberoth, walked into Stargate Operations and demanded to know what was going on. Niam told him that a ship was approaching the planet and that their ships were moving to intercept. They watched as a hyperspace window opened, then reports came in of an unknown vessel before all communication was cut.

"Niam!" shouted Oberoth, 'What is happening?"

"The signals have vanished" said Niam as he looked back at Oberoth as the white haired replicator switched to the real time scanners and saw their ships being fired on with an energy wave, after which they broke up in space; and the ship firing was one they hadn't seen before.

"Oberoth!" shouted Niam as he looked back at the leader of the Asurans following an alarm emitting from another console, "reports of several Potentia vanishing though the use of matter transportation technology."

Suddenly, the power in the Asuaran version of Atlantis was cut off, including all primary and secondary systems. Oberoth ordered power to be returned, but he knew they would be too late to track the ship with the city's long range scanners out of the count.

'They are out of our reach' thought Oberoth to himself before he shouted at the others to get power restored.

It was all over in a matter of seconds, even before any of the shields could be put up over their cities. Now all the Asuran's could do was build more ZPM's, and keep a record of that ship in their database.

 **Orbit over Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy, ten minutes later.**

A hyperspace window opened over the planet known as Lantea, the current home of Atlantis, as Thor's ship, the Belisknir jumped out of hyperspace and flew through the atmosphere before the hammerhead shaped vessel was hovering over the ocean. In the ship, Willow was standing next to Thor as the both of them conducted a scan of the ocean floor while Colonel Carter was checking out the ZPM's they stole from the Asurans. She then glanced over at Willow who was talking to Thor, and recalled her crazy idea back on Orilla after they were beamed to the Beliskner.

"Thor" asked Willow looking at the grey alien as he walked over to a console, turned a few of the control stones before looking at Willow, "have you heard of a civilization known as the Ataniks?"

"Yes" said Thor, "they died off due to their bodies creating antibodies to the physical effects of a special armband they created to fight their enemies."

"A special armband?" the President had asked.

"Yes" said Thor, "it greatly enhanced the wearer's physical abilities such as strength and speed. However, after prolonged use, their bodies created antibodies that resisted the pathogen that the armbands injected to enhance those attributes. In addition, the wearers suffered from exhaustion after the armbands were released from their bodies. There were signs of slight mental instability as well when wearing the device, however the individual would return to normal once the device had completed its cyle and fallen off the individual. Another weakness was that it increased the metabolism of the wearer."

"Meaning?" asked the President.

"Whoever wears the armbands will have to eat food continuously to keep up their strength, don't they?" asked the Colonel.

"Yes" said Willow, "which is why this will be going to the Sunnydale Army Base. They're going to be hit hard and these would help in holding back the forces of the First, at least until we get there in Atlantis. They have a lot of MRE's, and protein bars which would hold out until we get there."

Willow then turned and told Thor that she knew where he could find the armbands; that she read about the location in the report filed back in her own reality. Then once the Belisknir was in orbit of the Atanik planet, Thor told the redhead that there were life signs on the surface, that they seemed to be Goa'uld. Willow quickly rushed up to him and asked for a visual, real time scan, and smiled when she saw that it was Anise of the Tok'ra. The redhead then explained that the Tok'ra were the ones fighting the Goa'uld from the shadows, and asked Thor if she could leave a message for them that would help in the war against the System Lords. Thor nodded his head as Colonel Carter, and the President, looked on while Willow spoke while the message was being translated directly into Goa'uld. Then once that was printed on some paper, Willow asked Thor to beam up the armbands, and the beam down the message.

Once the message was beamed down onto the planet, the ship came about and opened a hyperspace window that would take them to the Pegasus galaxy.

Once on the Pegasus galaxy, Willow told Thor that the replicators were originally an invention of the Ancients meant to fight the Wraith. She told him everything about what they were, where they were, and that they used Ancient technology that they don't have the capability of improving; unlike the Asgard cloaking technology. She told him that the replicators wouldn't know until it was too late what was going on. She told Thor that they could take out the ships using the ship board Replicator Distruptor, and steal the ZPM's from several areas of the planet which Thor would scan for, including their version of Atlantis.

"So that they don't know where we're going?" asked the Colonel as Willow nodded her head.

"Yes" said the redhead, "they don't know about Earth. In my reality, they didn't even know where Atlantis was located until an international team stationed there encountered them, and then had their minds forcibly probed."

With confidence that the replicators won't be able to come after his ship, Thor exited hyperspace, attacked the Asuran ships and stole fifteen ZPMs before opening another window, and heading to Lantea.

Now as the ship hovered over the ocean on Lantea, the Colonel saw the President looking out the window, and then at Willow again who looked up at her before talking to Thor. She then walked towards the Colonel and sat next to her.

"Sorry about kidnapping you, ma'am" said Willow.

"No way" replied the Colonel, "this is a dream come through, you must know that if we worked together in your reality."

Willow just smiled and nodded her head. The Colonel then picked up one of the crystalline devices that was standing on its flat end and looked at the redhead.

"I never thought something like this could exist" said the Colonel as she brushed her fingers on the crystalline surface of the ZPM while remembering what Willow told them about it, and why they needed these power sources, "nearly unlimited power. A micro-universe inside… it's all theoretical but here it is. Breaking nearly who knows how many laws that exist on physics, thermodynamics.. name it…. But here it is. And I want to know."

"You're just like my Colonel Carter, ma'am" said Willow.

"I joined the space program so that eventually we could go out to the stars, and then I'd know that I helped play a role" said the Colonel as she continued to look at the device, "and now I find out that there is a reality where I've helped explore the galaxy."

"You designed our first battle cruiser" said Willow as she noticed the President walking towards them while Thor continued to search for the location of Atlantis, "the Prometheus was the first, then came the Odyssey, the Avalon, and the Excalibur… we have off world research and evacuation sites, fighter-interceptors that could be used in space and…. and it's something I'd have never thought I'd do."

"I wish I could meet the other me, one day" said the Colonel.

"When the Asgard send me back" said Willow, "you'll be able to say hello."

"Major, Colonel Carter" said the President as Willow, and the Colonel stood up, "when I return, I will notify Sunnydale Army Base, as well as the other surviving bases in the U.S about what will happen. We still have contact with some of our allies and.. and we'll be prepared to fight. You really believe this will be an all out war now?"

"I detonated the naquada bomb" said Willow, "the First knows that there's technology that could kill her demons, and now… now it'll want to wipe out the human race."

"It just needs to get its forces ready" said Colonel Carter.

"Yes" Willow said.

"Do you think my family's alive?" asked the Colonel as President Hayes put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thor" asked Willow as the grey alien looked up at her and blinked, "you have a scan of the Colonel's DNA after you were able to synthesize the Ancient gene, don't you?"

"Yes" nodded the grey alien.

Willow recalled telling Thor on the way to the Pegasus galaxy that she needed the Colonel to have the Ancient gene so that she would be able to fly the Puddle Jumpers. She told Thor that she was thinking of every eventuality and that if things went wrong on the surface, then the Colonel could use the Jumper to thin out the mass of demons that she was expecting. She also told Thor and the others that there were more crew members on the Lantean warship known as the Tria that was already heading towards the Milky Way who could fly the puddle jumpers, but she guessed that the commander of the Tria would need most of her people on the ship once Willow outlined her plans.

"Then once you reach Earth orbit to beam back the President" said Willow as she looked at Thor, "could you scan for Colonel Carter's family?"

"Yes" said Thor as the Colonel thanked the alien.

"Athena" said Thor as Willow looked at him, "we have found the city."

It was then that a three dimension model of Atlantis showed up on a screen as the Colonel and President Hayes looked on with their eyes wide open, and their jaws slack.

"Colonel, Mr. President" said Willow as she walked past them towards the screen, "the lost city of the Ancients, Atlantis."

Willow could see the city of towers as several paces were marked red; Thor saying that it seemed those areas were flooded. He also told Willow that the shield was already weakened, but he'd be unable to beam her inside to replace the nearly depleted ZPM's. However, it was Thor's next words that shocked her.

"My sensors show a weak life sign" said Thor as he looked up at Willow, who then looked at the confused President and Colonel Carter. Willow then looked back at Thor when she made the connection.

"Oh my God" said Willow as she looked at the model of the city on the screen city as it kept on getting closer, and closer. She then looked at Thor, "can you submerge your ship? Will the shield's hold against all that pressure?"

"Yes" said Thor, "you wish for us to pass through the Atlantis shields?"

"Yes" said Willow.

"Major?" asked the President, "what's going on?"

"Sir" said Willow as she stood next to Thor, "let me… please… just one moment."

"The Atlantis shields are already weakened" said Thor, "if we breach the shield, you would have mere minutes, I estimate two, before the shields fail. And in order for me to beam you into Atlantis, I would have to drop my shields… it would place all of us in danger."

"Look" said Willow, "if it's who I think it is, there's already a failsafe in place in case the shield gets down to catastrophic levels. I just need for you to land on one of the piers, and lower your shields. Beam me over to the base of the central tower where I'll put the ZPM's into the central consile. If I'm too late and the shields do fail, the clamps that hold the city onto the ocean floor will release, and the city will rise."

"You know who it is?" asked Major Carter.

"I hope it is who I think it is, ma'am" said Willow as she nodded at the Colonel, before looking at Thor and asking him to submerge the ship. Thor nodded his head as he increased shield strength to maximum before he slowly submerged the Belisknir. Once they were under water, Willow rushed to the window, as did the President and Colonel Carter until they could see the outline of the weakened shield that surrounded the city in the distance.

"Oh my God" said the President as the ship got closer to the city. They watched as the shield flared before letting in the Belisknir, which then lowered it's shields and landed.

"Major" said Thor, "the life sign is getting weaker."

"Beam her into one of the medical pods" said Willow as a light flashed in one of the empty pods and an extremely old woman in a white dress lay in it with her eyes closed. It was then the ship started to shake, "Everyone hold on! Looks like no beaming over!"

Willow and the others fell onto the floor of the ship as the shaking increased in addition to a huge jolt that shuddered throughout the ship. It was then that they felt movement as Willow rushed to help Thor stand up while the President and the Colonel looked out the window.

"Atlantis is rising" said Willow as the Colonel looked back at her and nodded. It was a few seconds later that the city burst through the surface of the ocean just as the shields failed. Even Thor was looking out the window as the Lantean sun shone on the towers that were before them.

"She's beautiful" said the Colonel before looking at the redhead who was standing next to her, "the Ancients built this?"

"Yes" said Willow looking out the window, "this is my home, the place I was born."

Suddenly, there were beeping noise coming from the consoles. Walking towards the main console, Thor told them that the woman's life signs were weakening further.

"Thor" said Willow, "can you heal her, and de-age her?"

"Yes" said Thor, "many of her organs are failing due to old age but… this cannot be correct, tissue samples indicate she is ten thousand and forty years old."

"Heal her, please" said Willow as she walked towards the medical pod and placed her hand on the glass cover, "Thor, heal her."

"I will require a little over an hour" said Thor, "I will take her with me and…"

"Stay, please" said Willow as she looked at the woman, "she gave up everything to see the city, I'd like for her to see her mission through."

"Very well" said Thor as a light inside the pod started pulsing.

"Who is she, Major?" asked the President.

"She's the leader of the Atlantis expedition" said Willow as she looked back at President Hayes, Thor, and then at Colonel Carter before looking at the woman again, "I'd like for you all to meet Dr. Elizabeth Weir."

TBC.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sunnydale Army Base, Sunnydale, 0135 hours. (5 hours 15 minutes to attack.)**

It was a little over three hours since Willow collapsed in her room after the light that she was holding on to zoomed away while the redhead fell onto the hard floor. Buffy, Kennedy and Xander rushed forward and attempted to wake her up while General Landry called for Riley's wife, and Dr. Lam. General Hammond was the one who asked them to gently pick up the redhead and place her down onto her bed. Kennedy sat next to her and held her hand while Buffy and Xander walked back as Sam, and Dr Lam rushed into the room to check on Willow.

"She's breathing, her heartbeat's steady, and she not running any sort of temperature" said Sa while Dr. Lam continued to examine her head for any signs of bleeding after Buffy said that her head hot the floor.

"There's no bleeding" said Dr. Lam as she lifted Willow's eyelids and shone a light, "pupils are responsive. It's like… like she's sleeping."

"What happened?" asked Sam as she looked at Buffy, Kennedy, and Xander, before looking at the others.

"She was attempting a spell" said Giles, "a spell to go deep into her memories for… well, it's hard to say but she's been doing a spell that would pull her into the deepest part of her memories. And then the First came and…"

"The First? It was here?" asked Dr. Lam as she looked at General Landry who nodded his head.

"We still don't know what fully happened" said General Hammond as he looked at Sam and Dr. Lam, "all we know is that an attack is imminent, and… and we need the medical teams ready."

"Understood, sir" said Sam while Dr. Lam nodded her head.

"As for Willow" said Sam while looking at the sleeping redhead, "I don't think she's in ay danger, but we'll keep an eye on her."

That was three hours ago; since then the Scoobies had been taking shifts in sitting by her side while Buffy, Riley, Xander, Amy, Harkness, Giles, and the two Generals were in one of the rooms in a building as they were leaning over a table. The two witches had already places charms and wards all over the room to keep the First out, and to prevent it from listening in.

"We have at least five hours before the First finds a way through the wards and charms around the room" said Harkness while she stood next to Amy at the head of the table and looked at everyone.

"This is the most powerful repelling spell we could find" said Amy soon after they had placed the wards and the charms, "it uses blood magic but, like Miss Harkness said, against the First.. it may as well be like a band-aid she can rip off given enough time. So we need to get this over and done with as soon as possible."

For nearly three hours they had been discussing plans on how to launch an attack and, most importantly, destroy Sunnydale itself so that it collapses into the Hellmouth. All of the ideas that the two witches were giving out had small possibilities of working, at least working to its full effect before the First… which made the Bronze its headquarters, could retaliate against them while performing the ritual in the High School.

"There must be something else, right?" asked Riley as he took a seat and sighed, "if those clouds are caused by mystical energy, then closing this Hellmouth should dissipate them… right? I mean, it happened before the other Hellmouth's were open…. So it does make some sense."

"I believe so" said Giles.

"Which means that if we can dissipate those clouds" said General Hammond, 'then we can launch whatever birds we have into the air without them getting blown to bits."

"Do we have anything out there?" asked Buffy as she looked at the map of Sunnydale and the nearby areas.

"Area 51" said General Hammond, "I know we have a few at Andrews, we may have something at Point Mugu, and at Edwards; we have birds in those places… others I'm not sure since we don't have communications with them."

"It could be that their equipment was damaged" said General Landry when he noticed the worried looks around the table, "not that the bases were wiped out."

"Let's close the Sunnydale Hellmouth first" said Amy as she looked nervously at Harkness, who sighed, before the both of them looked at the group again, "we… we found a spell that would possibly have a good chance of closing the Hellmouth. You know… dropping Sunnydale right over it."

"And why wasn't this option given to us first, Miss Madison?" asked General Hammond.

"Because…. Because it's dangerous.. and.."

"And to do it without killing anyone" said Harkness as she leaned on the table, her head low, while Amy crossed her arms aver her chest and walked towards a window that looked outside into the base as tanks were being moved all around the perimeter between the fences and the landmines that were already placed around the base months ago… a final wall of protection before any demons break into the base. Amy then turned around and leaned on the window sill while Harkness continued to explain, "we… we need three witches. Willow's out of the count while she's walking deep into her memories for search for any information on that girl in her vision… and…"

"And we're left with two" said Amy as she rubbed her head while the others looked at her, "look, the spell uses the life force of a minimum of three witches to create a.. let's just call it a bomb… a massive bomb created by gathering the life forces of the witches creating it. A ball of energy powerful enough to destroy the city and cause it to collapse over the Hellmouth."

"Oh dear lord" said Giles as he took off his glassed and placed in on the table before looking at Harkness who was looking back at him, "you're talking about blood magic, aren't you?"

"Yes" said Harkness.

"Excuse me?" asked General Landry as he looked at everyone, "what are you people talking about? I know Giles explained magic, and the like…. But blood magic?"

"As the name implies, General" said Harkness, "the witches involved pour blood into a bowl, then they start the ritual which uses the blood as a catalyst. This spell? It's a ritual of last resort mainly because of the inherent dangers to the participants and.. and because of that, it's considered taboo."

"But…." said General Hammond.

"Generals" said Giles as he looked at the two officers, "the reason this needs a minimum of three witches is so that the life force taken to charge the bomb is taken equally from each of the three or more witches. More witches would be preferable since even if the life forces of three witches are shared to create the bomb… it could still kill them. If you have four, or five.. or even more.. then all you have are some very exhausted magic users… but no deaths."

"If you want us to do this, General" said Harkness as she looked at General Hammond, and General Landry, "then we have to run an additional spell that would supercharge the bomb to its desired yield... that's the best way I can explain it to you."

"But chances are that we'll die" said Amy as she looked at Buffy and Xander who were looking back at her before the witch looked away, "actually it's not a chance, it's a certainty."

"There has to be another ritual" said Buffy as both Harkness and Amy shook their heads.

"How about me?" asked Giles as Xander and Buffy looked at him surprised, "I've dabbled in dark magic during my Ripper days and…"

"You have" nodded Harkness, "but you're not at the level of Amy, Willow, or myself. You have to understand, Rupert… you will die.. anyone who's connected with us, if they're not as powerful as the other witches will die. Your powers won't amount to much, and you'll still die… it's better that you stay here and help Buffy and the others. And getting any other witch powerful enough would be dangerous, especially since they're needed to protect their own covens and the people, including Slayers that they are sheltering."

"General" said Amy, "you have the options. This blood magic is powerful, and will work… but it will kill us. The other rituals may not kill us, but their effectiveness is questionable at best. We can also put up a spell that will hide our approach for a few minutes. We'll have minutes to get in, complete the ritual… and then crash the city on top of the Hellmouth while the ones who brought us in get out."

"Hank?" asked General Hammond while the second General rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"There has to be something else" said Xander as Buffy looked silently at the table. The Slayer knew that this was the only way to collapse the Hellmouth; she knew that they needed to collapse the hell mouth so that they could have a chance of winning the war. It was then that she suddenly felt tired as she glanced at Amy who was doing her best to put on a brave face. However, the Slayer could tell from her trembling hand that the witch was terrified.

"How do we get into the city?" asked General Landry, hoping to hold off answering any questions until he had all of the information available, but he knew that there was something in his gut screaming at him… he knew that this was something that just had to be done; that this was the best option. He had people go to theatres of war overseas, he had seen people die for their country and in the protection of others, 'those were trained soldiers; men and women who knew that they were fighting for their flag and country. These two however, they…. may God forgive me.'

"We… we just need a vehicle" said Amy nervously as Buffy walked over to the witch, and put her hand on her shoulder while standing side by side, "we can hide it while heading towards the city, but once we're out of the vehicle… then the demons in the city will know that we're there. They'll figure out what we're up to."

"They'll come after us while the others come after you" said Harkness, "and we'll have a few minutes for the ritual."

"I'm sure the school will be guarded" said Riley, "very well guarded."

"I'll have ten Marines accompanying you" said General Landry as the others looked at him surprised.

"Hank" said Harkness, "it's risky for them.. especially since there's no way to know if they can get back before the city collapses."

"Can you hide an entire Armoured Personnel Carrier?" asked General Hammond as Harkness nodded her head, "we'll use one of the two we usually use for supply runs to, and from, the city."

"From what I've been told" said General Hammond as he looked at Buffy, and then at Xander, "there are six entrances into the school, not including the tunnel systems that lead to the basement. Am I right?"

"Yea" said Xander.

"We blocked them" said Buffy, "which is why all of us didn't die when we…. when I opened the Hellmouth. The Bringers came in from the six school entrances above ground, while the Turok-Han poured out from the hole out of the Hellmouth."

"If the other tunnels were open" said Xander, "we'll be looking at more corpses."

"In that case" said General Landry, "I want fifteen personnel with experience in demolitions. I want all but one of those entrances blown up. And that one entrance is where the APC will wait for everyone to get back home. Including Miss Madison and Miss Harkness."

"But…." said Harkness as General Landry shook his head.

"If your ritual works" said General Landry, "we don't intend on leaving the both of you there. Two soldiers will be assigned to you, and the others will head back to the still functioning entrance and hold their positions against any demons that try to break through. I will be informing the personnel of the risks, and I'll select only take those who volunteer. But we don't intend on leaving your bodies behind."

"Even if your people have to die?" asked Amy.

"Don't underestimate these men and women, Miss Madison" said General Hammond, "they'll be informed of the risks. Like I said, this mission will be on a volunteer basis.. and.. and I know people will want to help in saving this world."

"You can count me in, sir" said Riley as he nodded his head.

"And me" said Buffy.

"Miss Summers" said General Landry, "we need you here to lead the other Slayers."

"But…"

"Buffy" said Giles, "he's right, the Slayers are your responsibility and… and I'll be the one going with Riley.

"Me too" said Xander as he looked at Riley, Giles and then at the Two General's who shook their heads.

"Mr. Harris" said General Landry, "with only one eye, and with you being inexperienced in firing a weapon with only one eye… I can't have you out there. It will be a danger to yourself, and to my men."

"And Giles" said Riley, "you don't have experience in firing a rifle, do you?"

"No" said Giles sheepishly.

"Rupert, Mr. Harris, Miss Summers" said General Landry, "thank you, but… but I feel the best place for you would be right here. We need your expertise here… with us."

"I'll be going with Miss Madison, and Miss Harkness" said General Hammond as everyone, including General Landry looked at him in surprise. The bald man smiled before speaking to them, "I've watched people sent out to fight, sometimes you have to go out on the field to know what your men and women are going through. Besides, it won't be fair for a General not to risk his own life when he's asking others to risk theirs."

'This is a suicide mission, General" said Harkness as she looked at General Hammond, "you…"

"I am going" said the General, the expression on his face indicating that there was no room for debate.

General Landry then nodded his head before turning to Riley and asking him to gather fifteen of his best people. He asked him to call them to the room so that he could talk with them, give them the specifics of the mission, and then have them swear not to reveal anything about the mission to the rest of the base. Riley then nodded his head before running out of the door. The others just stayed in the room while Xander and Buffy were talking to the nervous Amy, and the two Generals, and Giles were talking to Harkness about the coming attack.

"Amy" said Buffy as Xander stood next to her while the others talking on the other side of the table, "you….."

"I was… I guess I still am jealous of Willow, you know" said Amy softly as she shrugged her shoulders while Buffy and Xander looked at each other, and then looked at Amy again, "I mean that's kinda why I used that spell to punish her into thinking she was Warren and… and I mean she tried to end the world and everyone was still saying Willow's the best, and everything. She has so much power, power that others like me have to work a lifetime.. or two.. just to be on the same level as her. And now, now I have the chance to do something different and save the world.. and.. and I want to do it but at the same time I'm terrified."

"If you weren't, then we'd be worried" said Xander as he tried to lighten the mood among the three of them.

"I know that Miss Harkness can't do this on her own" said Amy, "there's no way. The spell would fail even before it starts…. But with two…."

"I'm sorry, Amy" said Buffy.

"Hey" said the witch as she wiped her eyes and perked up, "getting a chance to save the world… hell, having the opportunity to shut down a Hellmouth…. That's got to look good on a resume, right?"

"Better than being possessed by a hyena" said Buffy as she glanced at Xander who narrowed his eyes at the young blonde. However, it was then that the door to the room opened and in walked Riley with his handpicked soldiers who were following behind him. Buffy held on to Amy's arm before turning around and walking towards the table as General Landry explained the situation to the men, and then asked for volunteers for the mission.

"Captain Finn, and I, will be accompanying Miss Madison, and Miss Harkness" said General Hammond as the just arrived soldiers looked at the man in surprise before whispering among themselves, "like we said. This is a completely voluntary operation. If you feel you are not up to this mission, you can back out and it will not be held against you. Just know that those of you who choose to accompany us may, or may not, come back home."

'Just like any other mission then, sir?" asked one of the soldiers.

"Yes" said General Hammond, "as you know, this room is warded against the First Evil, but out there? Out there it's open season and it can gather all the information it needs to mount a defence. Which is why no one… and I mean no one is to mention this operation outside this room. You can't even whisper about it to yourselves… is that understood?"

"Yes, sir" said the soldiers together.

"Any questions?" asked General Hammond.

"When do we move out, sir?" asked another soldier while the rest nodded their heads.

"Miss Harkness?" asked General Hammond as he turned to the witch who asked all of them if they were certain on the risks, especially that none of them may be able to return.

"Yes, ma'am" said the soldiers together.

Harkness then nodded her head before looking at Amy who gave her a nervous smile. She knew that the younger woman was scared, but the truth was that they had no other choice… this was the best option to collapse the city. But she also knew that this had to be done when the entire demon army was away from the city… that would give them the best chance. Harkness told them about the timing of the missions, that when they see the demons gathering to attack… it is then that they should go to the High School and initiate their plan.

"Demons will still attack us" said Harkness, "but it won't be as intense as when the demons are still within the city limits. With most of their forces here, the city would be ripe for us to get through, and do what we need to do."

"I'm guessing that the Three would be out there with the First" said Buffy, "the four of them…. we're talking about an apocalyptic battle here."

"We'll use every bit of firepower we have to keep them back" said Giles, "but the Slayers will have to be ready, and we have to hope that our Willow finds out about the girl…. And activates the true powers of the Slayer."

"We're ready" said Buffy softly as she tightened her hold on Amy's arm.

"At least as ready as we'll ever be, G-Man" said Xander as Giles scowled at the one-eyed man.

General Landry listened to what everyone had to say before he closed his eyes. This was going to be the battle that would either save the world, or end all of human existence on Earth. Either way, they had to fight… and at the same time hope that Major Willow got back in time with any weapons she could find.

"May God forgive me" mumbled the General before looking up and approving the mission. He then looked at Riley and General Hammond before telling them that they need to come up with a suitable battle plan in an hour. It would be another two hours before they would leave the room once the wards and charm's effectiveness had faded; a little over three hours before the attack… an attack that the base would be expecting, but they wouldn't know when it would start… not until the ground starts to tremble with the coming of a little over fifty thousand demons that would be coming to smash the small resistance to smithereens. The first wave of the First and the Three, the first waves before all humanity is wiped off the Earth.

 **Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy, 0235 hours (4 hours and 15 minutes to attack.)**

Willow and Colonel Carter were beamed on board Atlantis an hour ago, immediately after Thor beamed Dr. Weir into one of the medical pods. He beamed the two Air Force officers into the bottom of the central tower, in the area that Willow had pointed out to the Asgard. Once beamed in, Willow smiled as the lights started coming on by themselves.

"Hello, old friend" said Willow as she smiled.

The Colonel walked out of the power room, and into the hallway and looked on as the lights turned themselves on before she looked at Willow and asked if she was the one who was doing anything.

"The city sensors know that there are people in the city" said Willow as she headed towards the console, "she's activating whatever systems can be activated with whatever power remains in the ZPM's."

The Colonel looked at Willow before walking up to her and standing next to her as she pressed some buttons while there were more white flashes of light as Thor beamed the rest of the ZPM's into the power room. Willow then walked around the console and picked up one of the ZPM's off the floor while asking the Colonel to pick up two more, that they needed to start checking the power distribution grid, and begin warming up the city's Stardrive once the three power sources were in place.

"The Stardrive hasn't been used in over ten thousand years" said Willow as she looked at the Colonel while she waved her hand over the hole that contained the ZPM, "I need to make sure that it's receiving all the power it needs to get us to Earth. I'm hoping then we'll have enough time to come up with a strategy."

After Willow waved her hand, the lit up ZPM was slowly pushed out of the hole. She then took it out of the central column as all the lights suddenly turned off since no power was being channelled into the city. With the only light coming from an open window that looked out to the bright sunny day outside, Willow set aside the nearly empty ZPM and placed the ones that they retrieved from the Asuaran's into the hole. Willow asked the Colonel to do the same thing to the ZPM's that she was holding. Once all the ZPM's were in place, Willow said that they needed to press down on them slightly so that the mechanism in the central power column can pull them down in the holes. Once the both of them pressed the ZPM's down, they watched as the three power sources lit up before being pulled into the column. They then smiled as all the lights started to come online again, and it was then that Thor told them that he was receiving readings from the city; that everything was powering up.

It was once the city had full power did Willow bring the Colonel to the Jumper bay. There she showed the Colonel the flight mechanics of the Ancient craft while looking at the excitement in her eyes. Willow asked her to grab a console while remembering the test that Thor ran using a crystal to check if the copy of the Ancient gene given to the Colonel was activated. The both of them smiled when the crystal gave out a white light back on the ship, and then they smiled again when the engines on the Puddle Jumper started to hum once the Colonel grabbed the controls. Willow told her the controls were similar to flying an Earth plane, except there were no G-forces because of the inertial dampeners. She told her that the ship could enter space in mere seconds at full speed. She told the blonde that the weapons were mentally controlled, and that it was possible to fire just two drones, and guide the drones to fire through not just through one enemy, but through multiple enemies as long as the weapons still had energy remaining.

"Oh " said Willow, "the ship has a cloaking system… it's undetectable by anything… even the most advanced Goa'uld scanners won't be able to detect it. I'm not sure about the Asgard though; we really haven't tested the system with their own scanners."

"Amazing" said the excited Colonel as she ran through one HUD after another, "how does it know what I want to see."

"We still don't know" Willow admitted, "we suspect that the computer extrapolates your thoughts, like if you happen to think 'where am I?' then the computer senses what you mean, and then gives you a location."

"This is just…. Wow" said the Colonel as she lifted the ship off the ground, and then hovered while making vertical, and then horizontal turns before landing the ship, "oh, Wow!"

The redhead smiled before she set the Puddle Jumper on a simulation so that the Colonel could get used to the controls, and flying the ship,

"I'll start pre-flight, ma'am" said Willow as the Colonel nodded her head, "if you need anything, this ship's communication system can connect to the Belisknir, or to anywhere in Atlantis. I'll be at Stargate Operations starting the warm-up sequence. Then, once we're ready… I'll show you how this city will be launched into space."

Willow then left for Stargate Operations where she began to start up all the consoles before she walked down the central staircase to the middle of the Gateroom and held out her hand as a control column came up from the floor. She then held out her left hand as another column came up from the floor before placing her left hand down on the surface of the new column. She watched as the cover under the glass surface slid back to reveal five holes; and underneath those holes were five needle points. She moved her fingers so that the tips were over those holes. Her face grimaced when the needles pricked her fingers all at once. The column then retreated back down before Willow placed her right hand on the first column that came up from the floor. As soon as she placed her hand on the glass at the top of the column, there was a light that scanned her palm before the blue lights along the column turned green in colour. It was then that a screen came up from behind the column as words in Ancient started forming.

Willow recognized the words; 'Welcome High Councillor, Do you wish full control over Atlantis?'

"Yes" said Willow. It was then that the screen retreated back into the column, followed by the column itself as the screens over at Stargate Operations now showed the seal of the High Councillor spinning in the background, indicating the entire city, including its sensors that would connect it to the Death Valley, and the Antarctic, weapons outposts on Earth were activated. Anyone with the ATA gene could now land the city, and connect remotely to the outposts before launching drones from the city itself.

Once she had gained control over the entire city, Willow ran back up the stairs and started checking on the power distribution network, and the Stardrive. She wanted to make sure that the ship would be able to make it all the way to way to Earth, without making any additional stops along the way. It was an hour later that an holographic version of Thor appeared at the Gateroom at the bottom of the stairs. Willow got up from behind one of the consoles and rushed down the stairs again to meet with Thor who looked at the writings on the stairs, before looking up at Willow.

"Athena" said Thor, "Dr. Weir has been healed. We are prepared to beam her back to Atlantis."

"Thank you" said Willow as she nodded her head, "before you leave for Earth, could you also beam down two of the Atanik armbands, and a case of the protein bars I replicated on the way here?"

"Very well" said Thor as he nodded his head before there were two flashes of light to the redhead's left as the medical pod containing a must younger Dr. Weir. There was another flash of white light as two Atanik armbands appeared right next to it. Once those were transported on board, Willow nodded at Thor before asking if she could talk to the President.

"Major?" said President Hayes as a holographic version of himself appeared next to Thor, "Where's Colonel Carter?"

"She's simulating flying one of the ships, sir" said Willow as the President nodded his head, "sir, it'll take about six hours to get everything ready here. Pre-flight and warm-up will take some time especially since it's been a long time before the Stardrive was used. And then it'll take about an hour through hyperspace to get to Earth, that's not including stopping to pick up the Tria; but, it'll give us enough time to get a plan together. Sir, give one box of the armbands to your secret service personnel, and the other three to the Sunnydale Base. They'll be getting hit hard before the other bases do. I don't think the demons are planning to leave anyone breathing… they'll be doing it to show who's in power, but they won't stop there. The armbands will give the personnel them a fighting chance."

"Will do" said the President as he nodded his head, "and Godspeed."

"Major" said Thor, "we will be taking off. Once I have beamed President Hayes back to Earth, I will return to the council and ask them to speed up their decision on how many ships we could spare. I can tell that we could require at least ten ships to beat back the tide of these creatures."

"Understood" said Willow nodding her head, "thank you again."

"And as you have requested before leaving Orilla" said Thor, "we will use the planet know as Edina for your departure point. But as we have said, three days will be required to rebuild the technology required to return you to your reality."

"And the entropic cascade failure?" asked Willow, "there is two of me in this reality."

"Unfortunately, we are unable to assist with that" said Thor as Willow nodded her head, "have you been feeling any effects?"

"Not yet" said Willow.

"I will talk with Lya, I am sure her people have something that would be able to stave off the cascade failure."

"Thanks" said Willow, "see you soon."

It was a few minutes later that the Belisknir took off from Atlantis' East Pier and flew up into the orbit of Lantea. She then opened a hyperspace window before flying through it. In the meantime, Willow looked at the woman in the medical pod before smiling at her.

Willow then ran up the stairs and went over to Stargate Operations where she began a second set of diagnostics on the Stargate, and the Stardrive, before asking Colonel Carter to meet her in the Gateroom; that they had a guest to meet.

 **Willow's Quarters, Sunnydale Army base, at that same time.**

Willow couldn't believe that the spell worked as she looked at her own memories from the moment she was a baby. She remembered her mother and father doting on her, she remembered them getting slowly renowned in their own fields as the young redhead was left to the care of her nanny, Beatrice, more often until her parents would disappear for weeks at a time. Willow looked as her younger self played with Beatrice, and she would just smile at those days when she wasn't aware of the supernatural. It was just as she was thinking about the supernatural that Willow saw Beatrice leaving the toddler Willow in her playpen while she went to pick up the phone that was a few steps away. While Beatrice's back was to the toddler, the grown up Willow saw her younger self looking up into the air and smiling.

"I saw the ball of light" said Willow to herself as she saw the toddler version of herself flailing her hands towards the small ball of light that was floating towards her before it started flying all around the laughing baby, "it was always there."

Willow saw herself growing up; from the last time she ever saw the light, to when she and Xander met a police officer who helped them take a picture of themselves during Halloween, to her entering middle school, and the high school. She saw herself retreating into the mousy student she once used to be. Then Willow smiled when she saw herself meeting Buffy for the first time, she saw herself being saved by the Slayer. Willow smiled at all the memories as they flashed by until the point when it came to the night seven months ago, days before they opened the Hellmouth. Willow watched herself, and the others, as they ganged up on Buffy and kicked her out of the house. Willow looked at herself, before she saw the look on Buffy's face and her heart broke. She knew that none of the Scoobies ever talked about it since that day, nether did any of the Slayers… but the fact of the matter was that while Andrew and Faith had gone to check on a Mission in Gilroy, everyone had stabbed Buffy in the back; stabbed her, and then twisted the knife.

'None of us ever apologized' thought Willow to herself as she walked past Dawn who told her sister to leave the house. Willow reached out her hand to caress Buffy's cheek but her hand just passed through the image, "I'm so sorry, Buffy."

She saw Buffy pull back her tears as her face twisted in anguish looking at her own sister, and then at her best friends, and then at the other Slayers before Kennedy drove the knife in deeper and said that they'll be making Faith their leader; that someone else needed to be given a chance.

As Willow stood there watching herself hang her head down while looking away from Buffy, the redhead watched as Buffy left the house and slammed the door behind her. She remembered chaos erupting as everyone had their own idea for what needed to be done next… but it was Giles who said that they needed for Faith to get back, that they needed to make an informed decision on their next course of action.

However Faith was livid when she got back and heard what happened with Buffy. Willow watched the furious Slayer telling her that she needed to do a spell and find out where Buffy was located, that she needed to talk to her sister Slayer. Form her memories, Willow could see that Faith never wanted to be the leader… but she later saw closely that she did step into the role. Faith returned alone after talking to Buffy, Willow remembered Faith saying that they needed to leave Buffy alone… that she needed to make her own decisions.

"I made my case" said Faith as she stood in front of all the Scoobies, and the Potential Slayers, "in the meantime, we'll continue to fight."

Willow remembered wanting to ask what Faith and Buffy talked about, but she was afraid… afraid that Faith would call her out on betraying her own best friend. Willow then continued walking through her memories of what happened next; from activating the Slayers, to the fight against the Turok-han, her reaction to the death of Faith, and then she remembered comforting a despondent Buffy after they stole a few cars and were driving towards the Sunnydale Army base after Dawn's death, Willow remembered burying Dawn's body just outside the Army base. She remembered Buffy being unable to let go of her sister, and that it had taken Giles, Xander and herself coaxing the blonde Slayer to let go of Dawn's body. Willow then saw more of her memories as she saw herself stumble in pain, along with Buffy, as more and more Slayers were murdered by the First and it's demons that were taking over the world. She saw more soldiers and Slayers die in Sunnydale ever since they had taken residence at the Army base… however, she had never seen that girl who was talking to her I that vision. Willow knew she was almost at her current memories, but there still was no hint of who that girl was.

All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of light that made Willow yelp and cover her eyes. When the light faded, she found herself back in Buffy's house. She was standing in the foyer all alone just as she heard two children laughing.

"Hello?" said Willow as she looked up the stairs just before she head running, and laughing, in the living room. Cautiously walking over to the living room, the laughter of two children got louder and louder, and then suddenly vanished when she entered the living room, "I know that my memories don't have any weird laughter by children… so who's doing this, and why?"

"Athena! Catch me if you can!"

Willow turned around only to see a brunette girl who looked about six years old in a tanned dress running down the stairs, followed by a red haired girl who was laughing while running down the stairs.

"Hello?" said Willow as the two girls stopped and looked up at Willow, before looking at each other and laughing.

"Catch me, Athena" said the brunette as she ran, soon followed by the redhead.

"The both of them… they…. No…" said Willow, "the other me mentioned Athena and…. that girl… those two girls… they.. they look like…. No…"

It was then that the redhead heard the back door slam shut. Willow made a dash for the kitchen, and then went through the back door wanting to ask the two girls questions about who they were, and why were they in her memories.

'And why do you guy look like me and Dawn when we were younger' thought Willow to herself as she went through the back door.

The redhead opened her eyes in shock when, instead of finding herself in the Summers back yard, she found herself looking at two young women who had their backs to the redhead while holding each other's hands. Willow saw that one had straight, long red hair that went up to the middle of her back, and the other woman had brunette hair that was tied in a pony-tail. The both of them were wearing cream and tanned clothing while they looked out at the ocean.

Willow looked back at the door that she jumped through, but she had another shock when the door was gone. All she could see now were tall towers in the distance, a city that lay on an ocean.

Willow turned back towards the two women and took a step forward on trembling legs as she called out.

"Hello?" asked Willow, "I…. where am I? This isn't my memories, even though it's supposed to be my memories. I mean…. I don't know what's going on and…"

"I will see you before you leave for Athos?" asked the red haired woman as she turned and looked at the brunette who looked at the redhead, smiled and nodded her head, "we will have our meal, and… and perhaps I will go with you."

"You do not have to" said the brunette as Willow, who was observing the conversation between the two of them with her eyes wide open at their remarkable similarity to herself, and to Dawn, "I know my request to part with the retrieval team was rejected. I really was hoping for peace, but it seems that the Council believe it would come to nothing."

"Huh?" asked Willow.

"Which is why I will accompany my sister on her mission to Athos" said the redhead as Willow narrowed her eyes, "a research trip is always better with family."

"Sister?" asked Willow as she took a step forward.

"Very well" said the brunette that Willow thought looked like Dawn, "we shall leave after our late afternoon meal."

Willow saw the redhead smile before kissing the brunette's forehead. The redhead then turned to walk away and Willow felt that it was as if she was looking into a mirror just as the figure faded out of sight, leaving Willow and the Dawn look-a-like alone.

Willow saw the brunette hang her head and smile, before looking out at the ocean again.

"This is the day I died, Willow."

Willow was surprised when the brunette turned and looked back at her while her clothes changed form to a silver and cream dress.

"Well, the first time anyway."

"Who are you?" asked Willow, "you.. you're not…"

"Dawn?" asked the brunette as she walked towards Willow with a gentle smile on her face.

"Dawn.. Dawn's dead" said Willow as she took another step back while the brunette approached her, "you're the First.. you have to be. I was there when we buried her body… Buffy was there when the First punched through her chest. So, no… you're the First.. I don't know how you're here and…"

"Willow" said the brunette as she rushed towards the redhead who yelped as she grabbed her hands, "Willow, it's me… it's Dawn. Spike's lil'bit.. the former Key? Remember how excited I was when you and Tara got back together? Remember…"

"The First has all of her memories" said Willow as she pulled her hands away from Dawn's grip and stepped back, the ocean breeze flowing through both of their hair, "this is just an elaborate lie and…."

"Willow" said the brunette gently, "the spell you were doing needed time to work. Remember the First attacked you? I was the one who shielded you.."

"No" said Willow shaking he head in disbelief.

"Ever since you were young, when you were lonely… I was always there" said the brunette as she teared up, "when you'd cry, when you'd be alone… I was always watching over you… never able to interfere."

"The.. the Dawn I know was created… the monks… they.. they created her and…" said Willow shaking her head in disbelief while taking a few more steps back.

"Willow" said Dawn, "I need you to trust me. We don't have much time and you need to remember everything about your old life… everything that led you to what happened to Sineya… everything."

"But I… I never met the First Slayer.. I mean…"

"Athena did" said Dawn as she took a step forward whole Willow looked in shock at Dawn who held out her hand, "Willow.. you are Athena. You are my sister.. and I can prove everything to you… it's all in your memories. You just need to concentrate.. and I'll guide you."

"You… you're dead."

"I ascended" said Dawn, "we don't have much time. You are already kinda remembering your old life."

"I…."

"Where are we?" asked Dawn as she held on to Willow's hands, "think, Will… where are we?

"I don't know.. I've never…"

"You… we were born here" said Dawn gently as she held on to Willow's hands tightly, "there was once a story, a story about a great city. It was used to ferry a dying people to a new home, and in that new home.. the city was a jewel in the civilization of those who would one day be called the Lanteans. It was a few million years later that the Lanteans were in a great war, a war that ravaged the galaxy; the humans in that new home saw the city as a shining beacon against the approaching darkness. You told me stories about how this city brought hope to people when we were still kids. Eventually I died, and then our left a decade later for Earth. This great city, of a technologically advanced race was left to lie safe at the bottom of the ocean… until her people returned to claim her again."

"Atlantis?" said Willow as she looked at the towers behind her again and grabbed her head in pain. She then looked at Dawn again through narrowed eyes as everything changed around her.

"Where are we now?" asked Dawn as she held on to Willow, "Will, I can guide you… but you need to remember… where are we?"

Willow looked around the room they were in and then laid her eyes on a cot in the corner of another room where a baby with a tuft of red hair on her head was sitting up, clapping and then laughing as a woman in a cream coloured shirt and brown slacks rushed over and picked up the laughing baby before spinning around and then giving the baby's cheek a wet kiss.

"Do you remember her, Willow?" asked Dawn.

"Th… That's…. mother?"

TBC.


	9. Chapter 9

**Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus Galaxy, 0250 hours. (Four hours to attack).**

It had taken ten minutes for Colonel Carter to run from the Puddle Jumper hanger bay to the Atlantis Gateroom where Willow was standing facing the pod that contained a younger version of Dr. Weir. While the redhead set about pressing buttons that would bring the woman out of stasis, Willow told the Colonel that President Hayes returned to Earth with Thor. She then told the blonde officer that it would take some time for the city to complete diagnostics, and get the Stardrive warmed up so that it takes them all the way to the Milky Way.

"You've started warm up procedures?" asked the Colonel as Willow nodded her head as she pressed another button before taking a step back.

"Not yet" said Willow as the glass cover slowly opened, "three hours for the diagnostics, and the another three for warm-up and pre-flight. Only then can we take off, we could do it now but… well, the engines haven't been used in a very, very long time."

"And we don't want the engines to give out permanently" said Colonel Carter while Willow nodded her head.

It was then that they heard a groan from the pod, and they took a step forward as the woman in a white Lantean uniform slowly opened her eyes, and then she looked at Willow with her eyes narrowed. She then looked at the Colonel, before looking at Willow again and wiping her eyes with eth back f her hand.

"You…. you're Athena?" said Dr. Weir as Willow walked up to her and helped the woman out of the medical pod that was standing upright, "why? Where?"

Dr. Weir then looked at the Colonel, confusing etched on her face as she spoke, before coughing.

"Lt. Colonel?" asked Dr. Weir as her arm was around Willow's shoulder while she gently walked the woman to the central staircase and helped her to take a seat. She then looked up at the Colonel and spoke, "Lt. Colonel? Colonel Carter?"

"Dr. Weir?" asked Willow as she stood next to the Colonel, "do you know where you are? Do you know who I am?"

"I.. I… Oh my God" said Dr. Weir as she looked around the Gateroom, and then behind her at the sun that shining through the painted glass window. She then turned to the two women in front of her and told her that it was a success, that it really did work. It was then that she looked at her hands and confusing was etched on her face again before she looked up again at the two, "I'm supposed to be… I mean. Stasis doesn't keep you young forever, at least that's what Dr, Beckett… oh, where is he… where's everyone? Major Sheppard? Dr. Zalenka… did they make it through? Rodney? Is he alright?"

"Dr. Weir" said Willow after she looked at Colonel Carter, frowned, and then looked at the diplomat again, "I….."

"I remember you" said Dr. Weir as she looked at Willow, "Athena. I talked to you after Janus showed me…."

"Ok" said Willow as she walked towards the woman and sat down next to her, "ummm…. Dr. Weir, I know this is confusing but… my name is Major Willow Rosenberg. I used to be Athena and…"

"You descended?" asked Dr. Weir as she looked at Willow, and then at the Colonel, and then back to Willow again, "and your memories?"

"I have everything; I mean all my memories of being Athena, and of my ascension" said Willow, "but I don't have the knowledge and…"

"My God" said Dr. Weir excitedly as she looked at the Colonel, "a real Ancient. Colonel Carter this is so…"

"Dr. Weir" said Willow as she held the woman's hand and the woman looked back at the redhead, "I'm from another reality. Let me finish before you say anything. In my reality, I descended and joined Stargate Command. You used to be the commander for the SGC and were present during the attack on Earth by Anubis."

"We used the drones… or at least Colonel O'Neill used the drones to destroy Anubis' fleet" said Dr. Weir as she looked in shock at the redhead, "our realities are…"

"Different" said Willow, "but the same, in some ways.. I think. However, there's another problem. Relatively speaking, for me this is an alternate reality. But…."

"What?" asked Dr. Weir, sensing that there was something wrong as Willow frowned before looking at the Colonel, "Major?"

"Ma'am" said the Colonel, "you are in an alternate timeline."

"What?" asked the dark haired woman in shock, "but…."

"Dr. Weir" said Willow gently, "in this reality, there is no Stargate Command, there is no SG-1 and…."

"But.. but…" said Dr. Weir with her eyes open wide in shock as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth, "how.. how did you…"

"It's a long story about how I got here" said Willow, "all I can tell you is that in my reality, Colonel… well, General O'Neill went back in time with the rest of SG-1 to Ancient Egypt a few years before the uprising. I believe the same thing happened in this reality, except they must have been unsuccessful. I'm thinking that Ra may have taken the Stargate with him."

'My God" said Dr. Weir.

"I met you as well when I was Athena in my reality" said Willow, "I knew what Janus' plan was going to be. I visited you the last time you got out to changed the ZPM's…."

"Yes" said Dr. Weir, "the same thing happened to me and…."

"The SG-1 that went back in time must have been successful with the uprising" said the redhead, "Ra left Earth, but he must have taken the Stargate with him, since in this reality there is no Project Giza. But since you were placed into stasis a few thousand years before that, well…."

"You're a paradox" said the Colonel as Dr. Weir looked up at her.

"So for me" said Dr. Weir, "this.. this is an alternate timeline?"

"Yes" said Willow.

"And you helped them find the Antarctic Gate and…"

Willow then looked at the Colonel before looking at Dr. Weir again. The diplomat noticed the look that the redhead and Colonel Carter shared, and asked what were they not telling her.

"I'm primed for more surprises" said Dr. Weir, "my life as I knew it is gone, there's no… oh God…."

It was Colonel Carter who told Dr. Weir what happened on Earth; that demons and monsters had taken over and caused the deaths of billions of lives. The stunned woman looked at Colonel Carter, and then at Willow, hoping that they were joking. She then started to tear up when Willow quietly told her that there were a little over eight million people still alive. That she was send to this reality by the Others after she interfered in her own reality. Willow then told her what she experienced up to the time Heimdall beamed her up onto his ship, then downloaded the Ancient knowledge into her mind, to getting the Atanik armbands and stealing ZPM's from replicators.

"Replicators?" asked Dr. Weir, 'here?"

"I've got a lot to tell you ma'am" said Willow, "but… but we're going to be fighting back. I'm running diagnostics on the city, and we're going to launch in six hours. We're going to pick up another Ancient ship called the Tria, and then we're heading to Earth. We're gonna save our world."

"Demons….. monsters…." Said Dr. Weir, "I… wow… I thought the Goa'uld were a nightmare."

"You seem particularly easy to convince about these things, ma'am" said the Colonel.

"I've been through an alien invasion, Colonel" smiled Dr. Weir as she rubbed the side of her own face to make sure that she wasn't dreaming, "I've met with aliens who wanted an alliance to battle another one of their own who was taking over Anubis' weapons."

"Ba'al?" asked Willow as Dr. Weir nodded.

"Ba'al?" asked the Colonel looked at Willow who then told her that she'll explain everything.

Willow then looked at the diplomat and told her that in her reality, the Jaffa are free.. the System Lords were defeated, and the Replicators were all destroyed after they tried to invade the galaxy. She went on to tell her that her reality's Dr. Weir was the leader of the expedition in Pegasus.

"She encountered a version of herself soon after arriving in the city" said Willow as Dr. Weir smiled.

"Does she know about the Wraith?" asked Dr. Weir as Willow nodded her head.

"The Wraith?" asked the Colonel, "Major?"

"Technologically advanced race, ma'am" said Willow as she looked at the Colonel, "worse than vampires in that they suck out your life force, leaving you a dried out husk. They don't die with being poked by a wooden stake, you have to actually shoot to kill."

"Damn" said the Colonel.

"Ma'am" said Willow as she looked at Dr. Weir, "I'm not sure about you counterpart, and I gotta say that having you here is a shock to me as well. Thor just took President Hayes back.. he wanted to take you too. But I figured that you'd want to complete your mission, see the city you sacrificed lifetimes for…"

"Yes" said Dr. Weir as she looked at Willow, "I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"When we defeat the demons" said Willow as she looked at Dr. Weir, "I'm sure President Hayes would want someone with intimate knowledge about the Stargate program if he ever decides to start a project. But first… we need to take our planet back. I've taken over the city as her High Councillor, a post that used to be my father's."

"Wait" said Dr. Weir, "you're Moros' daughter?"

"Yes" said Willow, "but I just did it so that anyone using the control chair could connect the city to the weapons platforms on Earth."

"Wait, did you say platforms?" asked Dr. Weir, "as in plural?"

"We have a lot to talk about" said Willow. She and Colonel Carter helped the diplomat stand up before taking the protein bars, and the two armbands with them to the Jumper bay. Willow told them that the diagnostics would take a few hours, and that in the meantime she could get Dr. Weir up to speed while Colonel Carter practises on the Jumper.

 **Willow's Quarters, 0350 hours. (Three hours to attack.)**

Kennedy squeezed in next to Willow while the latter slept so that she could get some rest after having moved around heavy weaponry with the rest of the Slayers and the clones while Buffy and the others were discussing war plans in their charmed room. Not that it mattered to Kennedy as much as making sure that Willow was safe. She saw what the First was trying to do, and immediate came to the redhead's quarters once she was done to find the redhead asleep with her hands placed over one another on her chest. Kennedy brushed her fingers on the redhead's lips, and then on her bheeks before closing her eyes.

'What are you dreaming of, Will?' thought the Slayer to herself, 'please share them with me.'

While Kennedy had gone to sleep, while Buffy and the others were surprised by the sudden appearance of Thor whose hologram appeared in the charmed room that they were discussing battle plans on how to get into the city to close the Hellmouth as the grey alien informed the others of what was going on.. of who Willow really was, and the plan to launch Atlantis; Willow was in her memories as she stood next to Hera. Willow and Hera walked side by side as they passed through one memory after another, from when Willow was a baby to when Willow would be carried by Moros accompanied by an extremely pregnant Melina.

"This was the day" said Hera as she and Willow watched Melina flinch as she gently rubbed her abdomen. They saw Moros leaned to the side while Melina placed Athena's tiny hands on her abdomen while the toddler laughed, "this is the memory where you'll finally believe me."

"This is your sister" said Moros as Athena looked at her mother, and then t her father.

"Sitfer?" asked the toddler Athena while Hera chuckled before looking at Willow.

"Sitfer? Really?" asked Hera as she looked at Willow who was standing a few steps away, still in disbelief that the brunette next to her was Hera, or Dawn, "Willow, come on… even you have to know that it's funny."

"Look" said Willow as she looked at Dawn with suspicion still etched on her face, "you say that you're Hera… Dawn…. whatever, but I don't have any memory of you..and.. this…"

"How did you know that the people you're looking at are mother, and father?" asked Dawn, "think Willow. I'm not a figment of your imagination, I'm not one of the Powers here to screw with you.. I am Dawn.. I am Hera. I'm your baby sister, and you are my older sister. You need to listen… you'll understand soon. Memories take time to place themselves where they need to be. Just wait."

"Now Athena" said Melina as she looked at her red-haired daughter, "we haven't picked a name yet."

'But we have six names" said Moros as Athena looked at him with eyes wide opened as her hair danced in the breeze that was flowing from the ocean, "first, how do you feel about Artemis?"

Dawn laughed when Athena made a disgusted face and shook her head. The brunette noticed that Willow was hanging her head low with a small smile creeping on her face.

"How about, Cassandra?" asked Melina as Athena shook her head.

Dawn and Willow watched them go through three more names before Melina sighed, and smiled at the little girl.

"How about, Hera?"

Dawn smiled as she reached down and interlocked her hand with Willow's as they watched the toddler get excited about the final name.

"Hela" laughed the toddler as she jumped and clapped in Moros' arms.

"You know where to go to next, Willow" said Dawn softly, "you know, you need to do this. I can't. I'm here to support you and guide you through the truth of what used to be."

"I can't" said Willow as she looked at Dawn with tears in her eyes, "I.. I know what happens next."

The scene suddenly changed to the medical bay in Atlantis with sounds blaring as Hera and Athena were crying out loud. Willow and Dawn held on to each other's hands as they saw Melina struggling to breathe while a nurse took away Hera, and a doctor told Moros that he needed to take his two children and wait while they help Melina.

"They couldn't do anything" said Willow as she and Dawn watched Melina turn her head as the nurses helped her lay down. They saw her struggling for breathe while the doctor and nurses worked on her. Willow looked at Athena who was reaching out for her mother, who herself had her hand out towards the crying toddler. And then there was darkness. Then she saw Athena being taken way from Moros as the doctor told the man the bad news; that his wife had passed. Willow then grabbed her head and screamed in pain as she got down on her knees while memories flashed and they found themselves on a hilltop the night of Melina's burial. She could hear Athena crying for Melina, before Moros calmed her down and told her that her mother was high up looking over her, "pa.. pain."

"The spell is slowly unlocking your memories" said Dawn as she kneeled down in front of Willow and put her hands on the redhead's shoulders, "the memories of your old life will slowly unspool, until the point you ascended. And then an ally will activate a counter spell that would stop the spell from going further."

"I… I…." said Willow as she looked up at Dawn through narrowed eyes as she screamed in pain.

"I'm sorry" said Dawn as she hugged Willow before pulling away with pain etched on her face as she watched what her sister was going through, "your mind is making new connections to hold these memories and… and it's going to be a bit painful. But I'm here… I've always been by your side."

"You…." said Willow as she looked up at Dawn.

"You should know what I've been telling you was the truth by now" said Dawn, "you should know who I really am; I'm not a figment of your imagination, I'm not a ghost, I'm not your subconscious talking to you, and I'm not the First."

"You're Dawn" said Willow as she slowly put her hands on Dawn's cheeks while the brunette nodded her head, "You're Hera, you're my sister. You're the light that lit the darkness around me."

"And you're my heart" said Dawn as she hugged Willow who was sobbing on her shoulder as more memories flashed by them. Dawn then pulled away, wiped Willow's tears as well as her own before telling Willow that she's the one in control…. That the brunette will follow wherever her sister is going.

Memories whizzed by as they suddenly found themselves in a dimly lit room.

"This was the day" said Willow as she stood next to Dawn while looking at Athena struggling in a pod, screaming at a pale humanoid, "this was the day you died… the day everything changed."

The both of them saw the Keeper suck out Hera's life force before there was a sudden explosion after the Keeper had left. They saw Athena getting pulled out of the pod, and then falling before she was pulled by her hair.

"He fell" said Willow as the Wraith fell onto the ground as the redhead got up and brutally attacked the creature for the murder of Hera. They saw Athena kick out at the Wraith who was lying on the floor as the redhead screamed obscenities, "I grabbed the plasma weapon from Argus, I shot his feeding hands and then his shoulders and then…"

"Do you remember what you told him?" asked Dawn as Athena kneeled down over the Wraith when there was another explosion before leaning over and whispering into the Wraith's ear, "Willow, do you remember?"

"You monsters took away my light in the darkness" whispered Willow as she recalled the exact words she used before she killed the Wraith with a cold look in her eyes, "now you will all pay, each and every one of you will pay. You are correct, your people do not deserve to be cured. I made a promise to my sister that I will continue as long as she was here with me always. You took her away from me, now there is nothing keeping me from annihilating each and every one of you abominations. I will see your race dead. If not by my hand, then I will ensure that my research is improved upon so that you all may die."

"Do you remember that feeling?" asked Dawn softly as she looked at Willow who was looking at Athena run to the pod which contained Hera's body. Willow saw herself put the desiccated body on the floor before gently picking it up again, "Willow, what did you feel?"

"Anger, no.. I felt rage" said Willow as she looked at Dawn as her eyes became as black as night, and her hair just as dark, "I hated what they did, I wanted to kill them all… burn the entire galaxy… I wanted Atlantis to leave so that my weapon could destroy every single life form there… make sure that nothing ever remained and… and…. that life never returned."

"Rage, despair, hopelessness, helplessness" said Dawn as she placed her hands on Willow's cheeks and looked into her black eyes, "does that remind you of anything?"

"I… I…" said Willow as she shook her head and closed her eyes, calming down slowly as the black hair vanished, and her eyes returned to their vibrant green.

"Tara" said Dawn as the memories playing around them paused, "Willow, remember what happened after Tara died?"

"Dawnie" said Willow shaking her head, "I.. I can't."

"You have to" said Dawn as she held on to Willow's hands, "you tried to do the same thing in Pegasus that you tried to do in Sunnydale; well in Sunnydale you wanted to destroy the planet… small scale.. but my point's still there. Both times your emotions got the better of you, but…. but in Pegasus, Father was the one who stopped you. And on Earth, Xander was the one who got to you."

"I still killed people after that experiment failed" said Willow as the images of her memories switched to smoking rubble where a Wraith cloning facility used to be, followed by images of bodies and destruction in a village, "the exploding tumour device, I killed people."

"You did everything to seek vengeance" said Dawn as Willow looked at her, "but I never wanted you to go down that path, but that made you who you are Willow. You are the most emotional person I know, but you are also kind, strong, smart, beautiful… you are amazing. When Tara died, you absorbed all the dark magic into yourself… then killed Warren. Then you tried to destroy the world after absorbing the true essence of magic from Giles… Willow, I can see you right now. Darkness and light.. clashing with each other."

"I can't give in to the darkness" said Willow, "Dawnie, if… if I do…"

"It's a part of who you are now, Willow" said Dawn, "you are light and dark, two separate parts that need to be made whole. You can't fight the darkness by keeping it away with the light. It's always in you, it's about control."

'I can't" said Willow.

"You can" said Dawn, "Willow, you were Athena…. You were an ascended being. Do you know what that means? Think Willow, think about what we learned in school about the Ori… think.. what did they talk to us about in history class? Why can't the Ascended beings interfere in the lives of those lower than them?"

"The Ascended can gain powers from the lower beings voluntarily giving up their free will" said Willow as she closed her eyes.

"You know how many people worshipped Athena? Or at least the Goa'uld who pretended to be Athena?" asked Hera, "how many people gave their free will to increase your power, or give up their free will for me, or Osiris, or Zeus, or even Hecate. Our powers increased so much but we never used our powers to interfere in the lower plains. You never did use them, nor did you purposely interfere because you knew what would have happened. Lower beings would have seen us as gods..true gods. Something that we aren't, we make mistakes Willow…. from those mistakes we learn. You are Willow, you are also Athena… you have light and dark inside you. You need to accept the darkness, you need to control your power… because… because you need to go deeper than you ever have to activate the true powers of the Slayers. You need to realize the truth of everything, you need to see…."

The images started to run again as Willow saw the proposals for the Clones, she saw herself meeting Dr. Weir, she saw Janus telling her that the council didn't grant her request and that she needed to go back to Earth… that everyone was evacuating. Willow then saw, with Dawn by her side and holding her hand, as she and a few others build homes for themselves in Nairobi; she saw then them leave one by one until she was the only one living there.

"Sineya" said Willow as she remembered Sineya escaping from the vampires, she then saw Athena getting bit by the vampires that were chasing Sineya… almost killing the redhead before she managed to escape, run into the Puddle Jumper, and then kill the vampires using a plasma weapon. She looked on with tears as Athena and Sineya became fast friends, that they protected each other… that all Athena wanted to do was protect Sineya from a prophecy of the Powers that Be.

"No… no…" said Willow as she stepped back when she saw the thousands of dead clones, she saw Zan take Athena down before taking her down to where Sineya was chained. Willow saw everything that happened as the supercharged Shadow demon entered the screaming Sineya whose last words to Athena were 'I love you.'

'She did" said Dawn as Willow nodded her head before hanging her head down, "what happened then?"

"I admitted my role in creating the clones to the Council, I admitted my fault to the others in the creation of what Sineya became… a weapon that the Powers arbitrarily decided to create" said Willow, "I was exiled and all my research was destroyed. But before destroying everything, I created two of the scythes… two weapons for the one who would become the First Slayer, Sineya. I gave her the weapons before leaving Earth for Kheb, and there…."

"You couldn't forgive yourself" said Dawn as she held Willow's hand tightly while they watched Athena talking to a blonde woman.

"Oma" said Willow.

"Yes" replied Dawn, "Oma Desala, she's the one who trained you to accept what you did, the role you played and come to terms with it so that you get ready for ascension. You now know who Sineya is… what she meant to you. But now, you need to remember those teachings, Willow…. you may not be able to ascend, at least not now… but those things that Oma taught you will help you accept everything about who you are."

"Acceptance is the first rule of ascension" said Willow as she looked at Athena sitting in front of Oma while they were surrounded by candles, "if there is no acceptance, the mind is locked in one place and thus unable to reach the first step in enlightenment."

"You remember" said Dawn as Willow smiled and nodded her head.

"Willow, you…." said Dawn as she looked around before looking at the redhead with fear on her face, "Willow, listen to me… you need to wake up."

"But…"

"It's taken too long" said the brunette, "you need to remember the teachings as you go… it's all within you, Will. You are Athena… you are my sitfer."

Willow just smiled at the brunette who hugged her again.

"My ally just placed a counter spell. You won't remember your ascended memories. Which is better.. because if you did, than you die."

"What?" asked Willow surprised.

"You have nearly a hundred and twenty years of memories, history and the emotions that come along with those in your head right now" said Dawn, "that caused you some pain, so can you imagine ten thousand years of ascended memories? In a brain that isn't able to handle all of that information?"

"I understand" said Willow nodding her head, "will I see you again?"

"I'll be here, Willow" said Dawn as she kissed the redhead's cheeks as she heard a voice in the distance, Kennedy's voice.

"So will a few more friends" said two more voices from behind the redhead who turned around and smiled as two pulsing lights dimmed to reveal two young woman, "miss us?"

 **Willow's Quarters, 0650 hours. (Beginning of the Battle of Sunnydale.)**

"Will! Will!"

Willow snapped her eyes open to see Buffy, Kennedy, Giles and General Landry standing over her as alarms started to go off all over the base. She quickly sat up while being helped by Kennedy and Buffy, and it was then she noticed that the two of them were wearing green and purple bands on their arms, they were already wearing vests and, for some reason, Buffy and Kennedy were scoffing down one protein bar after another.

"I… Know" said Willow as she looked at Giles and then at the General, "I know the truth about the Slayer lines, Sineya, the Furlings…. Everything."

"Yeah" said Buff as she rambled on while chewing the protein bar, "we know about you being Athena and all thanks to Thor, can't believe it… yeah.. anyway. So… so… can you activate the Slayers powers in all of us and…."

"Buffy?" asked Willow, "you alright?"

"These armbands that the other you gave Thor to give to us" said Kennedy as she pointed at the armband, "it's making all of us who wear it hyper, agitated.. but it's increasing our natural abilities by.. wow…. Dr. Lam tested us and… well… we kinda broke the dumbbells."

"Oh" said Willow as weapons fire sounded from outside, "what's going on?"

"Come on" said Giles as he pulled Willow out of her quarters and outside to the base where they watched thousands of Bringing running towards them, but they were mowed down by weapons fire from all sides, as well as some of the tanks running over them. Willow then noticed a few blurs going through the Bringers… followed by hundreds of them falling with their heads cut off. The blurs then ran back into the base, and Willow saw that it was five of the Slayers.

"The attacks started, Willow" said Giles, "I don't know if Thor knows about this, I mean we told him that the attack would start early but… for now, we're on our own."

Willow and the others looked out to the distance as more demons gathered, as well as three towering figures in the distance that were coming towards them. The entire base was surrounded, with the Bringers coming up first and getting mowed down by heavy weaponry from all over the base. Even RPG's were launched into the middle of the mass of demons heading towards them, but it didn't help much, neither did some of the supercharged Slayers, or the three soldiers who put on the armbands.

Unknown to the demons, the vampires, and the First.. there was a small magically hidden APC that left the base just before the attack started. The vehicle was heading towards the city itself, the people inside knowing that this was a possible one way trip.

Back at the base, Willow turned to Buffy and shouted over the weapons fire and asked where Amy and Harkness were. However, her eyes widened when Buffy and Kennedy looked out to the city, and then back to Willow again.

"Oh" said the redhead as she realized that they must have gone into the city.

"We can't tell you anything about what's going on" said Giles, "but…"

"I need the scythe" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, "I need it to activate the Slayer lines."

"Lines?" asked Giles.

"No time to explain" said Willow as she looked at the Watcher, "I know who I am, I know what I saw… I know everything I need to know to call on Sineya's power."

"You're talking about deep magic" said Giles as Buffy handed the redhead the Scythe.

"Just… just…" said Willow, "trust me. I.. I have to try."

"You can do it, Will" said Buffy nodding her head before the redhead gave the blonde Slayer a tight hug, "Will?"

"I'm so sorry, Buff" said Willow whispering into the Slayers ear, "I am so sorry for everything, especially that day when…."

"You're forgiven" whispered Buffy, "be careful when you contact Sineya, remember what happened the last time."

"The last time" said Willow as she pulled back and looked at the blonde Slayer, "she was aware that I wasn't who she knew, she was defending her power…. Her gift. Now, I know who she is, who she used to be."

Willow then looked at Giles and told him that if they survived this day, that he'll have to rewrite the Slayer lore.

"At least the beginning" said Willow, "I need…."

"You're all done" said the First as she appeared before them grinning, "time to say goodbye to the human race."

"Will" said Buffy, "go."

"Run, red" said the First as she took on Faith's form and mockingly told her as Willow ran back to her quarters with General Landry shouting at four soldiers and Xander, who had one of the armbands, to guard the redhead closely, "you will fail. She's taking on such deep magic, that she'll lose herself… she'll try to destroy the world… or better yet… she'll kill all of you meatbags."

"She'll succeed" said Giles.

"And help's coming" said Kennedy.

"We'll see" replied the First smiling, "we'll see."

 **Atlantis, Lantea, Pegasus galaxy; two hours ago.**

After Willow told Colonel Carter and Dr. Weir about the Atanik armbands, and what they could do.. the redhead put one of them on her own arm while Colonel Carter asked for the other one. Willow told Dr. Weir that she needed to be on the city with the Ancients, that she needed to be the bridge between both evolutions of humanity… especially since she had the knowledge of what could have been. It was later that while Colonel Carter was continuing to practice on the Puddle Jumper's simulation mode, Willow and Dr. Weir were in the control room just talking about everything that was similar in their respective realities or, in the diplomat's case at least, timelines. Surprised at how similar their realities were, Dr. Weir admitted to Willow it was nice to have someone present who remembered the same things.

"Even though you never joined the Program in my timeline" said Dr. Weir, "it's still nice to talk to someone about it."

"I'm sure that…."

Willow stopped talking when there was a beeping sound from one of the consoles. Walking towards it with Dr. Weir, the redhead told her that it was a subspace message. Pressing down the button, Willow and Dr. Weir turned and looked at the screen behind them as Thor's face appeared.

"Thor?" asked Willow.

"Athena" said Thor, "I am returning to Orilla to ask the High Council hasten its decision, I was told by General Landry that the attack will be coming much sooner than expected."

"What?" said Willow as she looked at a surprised Dr. Weir, and then at Thor again, "how soon?"

"Unknown" said Thor, "I am at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy, and I will be heading back into hyperspace. I just wanted to inform you of this new development so that you could make any changes to your plans. Again, I will try to hasten the decision of the Council."

'Thor" said Willow as she turned and pressed some buttons so that she could transmit some coordinates, "there's an Aurora class ship in the void close to the coordinate's I sent you. I read the report in my reality that that location is where the Daedalus met the Ancient ship. It's called the Tria, and the commander's name is Helia. Could you contact her, and tell her to wait for Atlantis at those coordinates? I'll explain what's going on once we've picked her up."

"Very well" said Thor, "good luck."

"Thanks" said Willow as the screen turned off, and the two women looked at each other. Willow then walked to another console, and then pressed a button that opened city wide communications, asking Colonel Carter to meet her in the Operations room; that there was a development.

It was an hour later that Willow was in the chair room while Dr. Weir and the Colonel were in Stargate Operations looking at a few screens that showed a visual diagram of Atlantis. Willow knew that Dr. Weir had some knowledge of Ancient, but she still pointed out which buttons they needed to press in case there was any type of emergency. Once she had given them instructions, the redhead told the both of them that she had to make one stop before heading to the chair room.

"Ma'am" said Willow as she looked at Colonel Carter, "I know…"

"I don't know any of the systems on the ship, Major" said the Colonel, "I'm just beginning to learn the ones you've shown me in the control room so… you're taking point in this one. Just let me know what's going on."

"Understood, ma'am" said Willow as she ran towards one of the labs, but not before telling Dr. Weir and the Colonel to cancel the diagnostics that were running, and to start pre-flight, "hope the engines don't conk out on us."

"True" said Dr. Weir as she nodded at the Colonel before they started work.

An hour later, Willow was seated on the Control Chair with a metallic case to her left as a holographic version of Atlantis' power distribution system appeared. Colonel Carter told Willow that while running pre-flight, Dr. Weir noticed that one of the control crystals was shot. The Colonel then asked Dr. Weir to bring up the plans of the distribution grid in that sector, and the officer had a plan to reroute power based on Dr. Weir's descriptions of what the symbols that appeared in Ancient on the screen in the Operations room signified.

"Confirmed" said Willow as she mentally rerouted power.

"You're green, Major" said Colonel Carter as she and the diplomat looked at the red section of the screen turn to green, as did various other sectors of the city.

"Activating shields" said Willow as she closed her eyes and the chair slowly turned ninety degrees as another hologram popped up showing Lantea. Willow then plotted a course for the coordinates where she hoped the Tria would be waiting, and then she activated the engines.

"Inertial dampeners are holding" said Dr. Weir as she held on to a console while looking at symbols on the screen as the city started to shake as it lifted up into the sky.

"Ladies" said Willow as she spoke through the communications systems, "this is your pilot speaking. Please put on your seat belts and push your tray tables to their upright, and locked positions. We are presently leaving Lantea, and if you wish for the best view the house has to offer, you can go to the balcony behind the Operations room. Once again, thank you for flying Air Atlantis for Earth with a stopover in the void between galaxies."

The Colonel and Dr. Weir then ran to the balcony behind Stargate Operations and looked on in amazement as the more than ten million year old city rose into the air. Noticing the gold tint of the shield, they soon found themselves looking out into space.

"Holy Hannah" said the Colonel as Dr. Weir smiled just as they witnessed a hyperspace window opening, and the entire city entering the blue and white tunnel beyond.

It was thirty minutes later that Atlantis emerged out of hyperspace as the city flew towards an awaiting Aurora class vessel in the distance. Colonel Carter and Dr. Weir were with Willow in the Control Chair room when a hologram of a woman in a white uniform with tanned accents appeared while Willow leaned forward, and the Chari deactivated.

"Commander Helia" said Willow as she stood up and nodded her head.

"It is true" asked the blonde woman as she looked at Willow, "we thought it was a trick when we were contacted by the Asgard, and then we really thought it was a trick when he mentioned that Atlantis was launched by you, Athena."

'We have a lot to talk about Commander" said Willow, "as you know we lost the war."

"Yes" said Helia, "I was on the way to Earth when we received the evacuation order from your father. However, our engines…"

"You lost Hyperdrive capacity and had to travel at point nine, nine, nine the speed of light" said Willow as Helia looked on surprised.

"Yes" said Helia, "how did you know? And speaking of which, Thor mentioned that you gave him the co-ord0nates of where to contact us."

"Everything will be explained, Commander" said Willow, "I take it that your ship is fully armed?"

"Yes" said Helia, "other than the Hyperdrive, and the use of a handful of drones, we are fully armed and shielded."

'Good' thought Willow as she nodded her head, "please land on the North Pier. We need to get to Earth urgently, I'll inform you of the situation once you're on board."

"Very well" said Helia before the hologram dissolved. Willow then looked at Dr. Weir and smiled.

"Well, you wanted to meet real Ancients, ma'am" said Willow.

Once the Tria landed on the pier, Willow leaned back to activate the Stardrive just as Helia and six others beamed into the control room and looked at Dr. Weir and Colonel Carter in confusion just as one of the holographic HUD's flashed red.

"Damn it" said Willow as she looked at the HUD before leaning forward again, "we've blown two control crystals. Commander, do you have…"

"I can have a team start repairs" said Helia as she looked at what Willow was wearing, and then at the Lantean clothes on Dr. Weir, and the clothes on the blonde, before looking at Willow again, "but Athena, we.. we need to speak."

"Yea" said Willow as she stood up while Helia informed one of the people with her that he needed to use the chair and find what was wrong specifically, and then get teams to repair the damage. Then Willow, Helia, Colonel Carter and Dr. Weir walked out of the room towards Stargate Operations as more Lanteans beamed while Colonel Carter and Dr, Weir looked on amazed as bright flashes of light deposited more and more people, into the city from the Tria.

"Commander" said Willow as they walked, "the story I'm about to tell you is complicated, but true."

'Very well" said Helia,

"The reason I know about your ship, is because the same thing that happened to the Tria… happened to the Tria in my home reality."

"Excuse me?" asked Helia as she stopped and looked at Willow in disbelief, "I know we have quantum mirrors but those were supposed to have been destroyed because of the inherent dangers and…."

"I didn't come here through a quantum mirror" said Willow, "in my reality, Earth is at war with the Ori."

"The Ori?" asked Helia as her eyes opened wide, "but, but they were supposed to never know about Pegasus.. or the Milky Way."

"They know now" said Willow, "they cheated. They knew that the Others would fight them if they used ascended powers in the Milky way, so they created a human child by impregnating a friend of mine. She eventually gave birth to the Orici and well… long story short, we fought back despite our many losses. In the end, we found the Sangraal…. Built it… activated it before sending it through to the Ori's home galaxy. But before that, I was fighting the Orici when I ascended… then I used my gifts and…"

"You were punished by the others and sent here" said Helia nodding her head.

"Yes" said Willow, "look, there's another me here… another me that doesn't know who she is. You see, I did ascended years after evacuating from Atlantis. Then after ten thousand years I was reborn on Earth to help fight a battle. The other me doesn't know about that, and the Asgard will be sending me home with the air of the Nox. But in the meantime, we have a severe problem."

"Very well" said Helia as they reached Stargate Operations where other Ancients had already started the repairs to the Stardrive. The four of them walked to what would have been Dr. Weir's office and closed the door behind them. Willow then introduced Helia to Dr. Weir, and then to Colonel Carter.

"Dr. Weir is from an alternate timeline" said Willow as Helia looked at shock towards Dr. Weir.

"In my timeline, we found the Stargate buried on Earth" said the dark haired woman, "a program was built around it to send human exploring the galaxy. Of course we made enemies, and many allies. I was in command of Stargate Command for nearly six months, and during that time we were facing an invasion by the dominant power in the galaxy, the Goa'uld. One of the Goa'uld that we hadn't defeated by that time, Anubis attempted a full scale attack on Earth. A team called SG-1 found information after a friend, Colonel Jack O'Neill downloaded the entire repository of knowledge of the people we now call the Ancients.. your people."

"That is not possible" said Helia as she looked at Willow, "the human mind couldn't have gone that far ahead."

"He did the same thing in my reality" said Willow as she held up two fingers, "twice."

"Because of him" said Dr. Weir, "we used the weapons platform in our southern pole to destroy the enemy fleet. But the truth is that the weapons platform find was a lucky break, we were really looking for the Lost City."

"Atlantis" said Willow.

"And we did" said Dr. Weir, "after months of selecting a team, we finally found an address."

The dark haired woman told a shocked Helia what happened after her expedition came through the Stargate, that the shields had failed and everyone drowned except for herself, and two others. She said that they entered what was later found to be a time-ship, but her companions died after the ship crashed in the ocean and she was the only survivor. She told her about Janus' plan, which succeeded.. but she now found herself in an alternate timeline.'

"In my reality" said Willow as she looked at Helia, "you died."

"What?" asked Helia stunned as she looked at Willow.

"The Asurans came after your people after you retook the city" said Willow, "they rewrote their own basecode so that they could harm Lanteans. You died. Everyone who returned to the city died, and Earth forces had to destroy the Asurans who took control of the city."

"I see" said Helia as she leaned on the table and closed her eyes before looking at Colonel Carter.

"I travelled with Major Rosenberg and…."

'Major?" asked Helia as she looked at Willow.

"I was reborn as a human, Helia" said Willow, "my name is Willow Rosenberg. I'm a part of the military in one of Earth's many nations. Nations that are currently being destroyed, well.. will soon be anyway."

"What do you mean?"

Willow told Helia about demons, vampires, and monsters and that they had taken over the planet. That the world that had been the birth place of humanity.. the world where there was once billions upon billions of people was now reduced to just over eight million. She told the stunned Commander that the demons had murdered and enslaved many, and that the final attack would be starting soon.

"I saw the sky turn as red as blood" said the Colonel, "I was on the space station, and… and I heard people get slaughtered in the ground control rooms."

"Stations?" asked Helia, "do you not have scanners, energy weapons? Anything to defend yourselves with?"

"We're not as advanced as you" said the Colonel, "we're nowhere near that level of development. But… but if we can get the demons off the planet, then I think we have a shot on forming an organization that could be used to explore the galaxy, such as in Major Rosenberg's reality."

"That…."

"Commander" said Willow as she interrupted Helia, "in my reality, we helped the Asgard defeat the replicators. In gratitude, they gifted us with shields and Hyperdrive. We used those, and other technology that we created based on other technology we found on other worlds through the Stargate Program, and on Earth, to free the Jaffa… they're humans who are enslaved by the Goa'uld. Because of that same advance in tech, we are the ones shedding the most blood in the war against the Ori. Earth has the potential there, Commander. In my reality, Colonel Carter is the smartest person I know on Earth…. You show her something, she can take it apart and rebuild it. The one I know is a very fast learner, she used the technology we had available to create a naquada reactor based off alien technology that she had no idea of how it initially worked. That same type of generator? It's already in its second generation.. she made it more efficient."

"Athena" said Helia, "you are aware of the dangers of letting less advanced civilizations have access to advanced technology, especially when they haven't earned it. Your reality is different, your Earth has proved itself against its enemies. But now? Here? I cannot in good conscience allow anyone on Earth access to the technology available on Atlantis. You know that."

"Ordinarily, I'd agree" said Willow, "but this isn't an ordinary time. Commander, billions are dead. People will be looking for hope, this city… this city is hope. I'm not saying you give them technology, all I'm saying is that…."

"Help us with medicine" said Dr. Weir, "Commander, there's not just military technology here… that's not the only thing we're interested in if that's what worries you. I… we… we'd like to learn about your people. In my time, we called your people the Ancients.. the Gate-builders. We crossed galaxies to meet with your people. So much was sacrificed… I can't let their memories die in vain. Help us with advancing our medicine, energy production… if it's your technology, then maybe you could allow us to use it under your supervision. But I can guarantee you, that once we start going out there and exploring the galaxy, we'll start to slowly advance in technological development. And I know the layout of the galaxy, I know the enemies out there, and the potential allies. We could help each other."

"Atlantis is your home, Helia" said Willow.

"We have been away for so long" said the Lantean blonde woman.

"I'm not saying you give up Atlantis" said Willow, "but Earth is your home too. The Wraith are too strong in Pegasus, we need to rebuild technologically, and then make plans to defeat the Goa'uld. You have Dr. Weir's knowledge for that. Make the Milky Way the home of our people again. Just nudge them in the right direction, Commander."

Helia could only nod her head in agreement.

"I've taken control of the city as High Councillor so that the sensors would connect remotely to the weapons platforms on Earth" said Willow as Helia looked at the redhead surprised, "but before I leave, I'll hand the position to you. All I ask is that you help the humans of Earth."

"Your sister never descended?" asked Helia as Willow nodded her head.

"She did, but I was told she died… well, the one of this reality died a few months ago."

"My condolences" said Helia just as two men knocked on the door and Helia nodded her head, signalling them to come in.

"Rolan, Soren" said Helia as she motioned towards Willow, "this is High Councillor Athena."

"High Councillor" said the both of them as they bowed their heads in respect, with Willow returning the gesture.

"What have you found?" asked Helia.

"Some of the control crystals to the Stardrive have been burnt out" said Rolan, "we are replicating new crystals on the Tria, but it will take some time."

"How long?" asked Willow.

"About thirty minutes" said Soren.

"And another twenty minutes through Hyperspace" said Willow, "and the attack may have started by then."

"Can we dial from the void to Earth?" asked the Colonel.

"Yes" said Helia, "but we have to recalibrate the Stargate."

"How many pilots do you have?" asked the Colonel as she looked at Helia.

"All of my crew are able to pilot the Gateships" she replied, "why do you ask?"

"While we wait for the Stardrive to be repaired" said the Colonel, "we send in these Gateships through the Stargate, directly to Earth. Major Rosenberg said that they are all fully armed so we can start attacking once we reach our target. Help those who are already fighting."

"We?" asked Helia, "you are able to fly the Gateships?"

"I'm a fast learner" smiled the Colonel, :I've been training for a couple of hours."

"I'll be going too" said Willow, "I belong out there on the front lines."

"Athena" said Helia as Willow shook her head, stopping the woman from saying anything else.

"Can you spare eighteen pilots?" asked Willow as Helia nodded her head, "I want everyone who's able to use a personal shield. They should have their plasma weapons at their highest settings at all times, and.. and the rest I'll brief them. Commander, could you make the selections?"

"Of course" said Helia as he walked out of the room, followed by the others as Helia made the announcement for a selected group of Lanteans to meet her in the conference room.

As they were headed towards the conference room after the woman made the announcement, Willow told her that the biggest danger that they'll be facing are from dragons.

"Dragons?" asked Dr. Weir as Helia looked on confused, 'seriously?"

"Some are the size of buses" said the Colonel, "I saw from space flying over the red clouds. Even saw a few about the size of a seven-four-sevens with three heads. The ISS has clear pictures of those… gives me the creeps when I think about them.

"Dragons?" asked Helia, "what are these Dragons."

"Oh, explaining this is going to be fun" said Willow as she explained everything Helia while waiting for the others to come.

 **Antarctica, 0650 hours.**

The original Earth Stargate wasn't the one that Ra had used in Giza; that Gate was brought to Earth by the Goa'uld System Lord from another planet after the scout he had sent to search for the original Earth Gate died without ever revealing his location. He never knew that the original Stargate was located within a crevice in Antarctica buried by millions of year's worth of ice and rock. For millions of years, ever since the Alterra left the Milky Way, the original Stargate remained unused.

Until now.

The chevron's on the edge of the Stargate started to light up one after another, the device being dialled in from a city-ship that was momentarily stuck in the middle of the void between galaxies due to the Stardrive experiencing a slight problem that would take time to repair. When the final chevron locked though, the unstable vortex atomised the surrounding ice, snow and rocks; enough to leave a large cavern, enough for a cylindrical ship to fly through the event horizon and immediately stop.

Piloted by Willow, the ship scanned the ice that was covering the cavern created by the unstable vortex. Willow slowly turned the ship seventy degrees to port and smiled. Her scans showed that the ice was thinnest in that particular location as she extended her wings, and then launched four drones that destroyed the ice cover leaving open air once the ice and rocks had settled; the Jumper's shield preventing any damage to the craft. Navigating her way to the surface and into open sky, Willow saw that familiar tint of the red sky as lighting hit her ship, but nothing happened. The shield preventing any systems of the vessels from damage.

"Try that with this ship, the Tria, or Atlantis?" said Willow as another charge hit her without harm, "really?"

Willow then cloaked her ship, and the electrical charges suddenly stopped.

"Interesting" said Willow as she connected her communications systems through the open wormhole to Atlantis. A holographic HUD popped up that showed Helia and Dr. Weir standing together while other Lanteans from the Tria were behind them running from one console to another while finishing up repairs on the Stardrive. Willow nodded at Commander Helia and told her that she had made it safely, that while cloaked, it seemed the lightning strikes she told her about didn't damage when it hit the ship, "and even when it did when I was uncloaked, it didn't go through the shield."

"We're prepared to send the rest, Athena" said Helia as Willow nodded while pressing a few buttons on the console.

"I've sent a flight plan for the Gateships to follow, Commander" said Willow as Helia and Dr. Weir looked at the left side of the screen, and then at directly Willow before nodding their heads.

"We got it, Major" said Dr. Weir.

"The Gateships have been fed the flight plans" said Helia.

"Colonel Carter" said Dr. Weir, "when you're ready."

'Copy that" said the Colonel as she lowered the ship in front of the event horizon before she took a deep breath, "I have the flight plan loaded and ready to do."

"Just like the simulations, ma'am" said Willow.

IT wasn't too long before the Colonel cloaked the ship and then went through the Stargate, before going out of the hole that Willow made earlier and parking next to her while waiting for the others to come through. All in all, twenty Puddle Jumpers came through the Stargate before it deactivated. Twenty advanced ships that lay in formation while cloaked over the ice and snow of Antarctica.

"Listen up" said Willow, "you know what's at stake. This is the only home we have right now, Atlantis will take another thirty minutes to get here. We help the people in the base hold the line until she arrives, and then we all hold out until the Asgard arrive. Use the drones sparingly, remember these things aren't ships… they don't have armour and.. well… the ones that do won't be able to do a thing. Kill as many as you can using each drone. Or just detonate the drone inside a mass of those things… we keep them away from the base until Atlantis, and the Asgard, get here."

"Understood" said the Lantean pilots that Helia had transferred under Willow's command for this mission.

"All of you have your personal force shields" said Willow as she looked down at the green coloured crystal on her chest, "if you crash, the shield will save you.. and you will be in the thick of things. Use your plasma weapons while heading to the safety of the base by any means necessary."

"Colonel Carter" said Willow as the Colonel's face popped up on another HUD, "ready, ma'am?"

"Yea" said the blonde woman as Willow nodded her head.

"I'm loading a flight plan that'll take us into orbit before we use full speed to get to the Sunnydale base" said Willow, "I'm looking at three minutes, maximum. You know the plan if we face dragons, so… yeah… good hunting. Loading flight plan."

All twenty cloaked ships flew up through the red clouds and into orbit before they gracefully came about and headed towards the North American continent. The ships then headed back down towards the western part of the United States where a battle was raging for the future of humans on Earth.

TBC.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sunnydale Army Base, 0630 hours (twenty minutes before the battle of Sunnydale.)**

Amy was watching the red sky lighten as she sat alone on an empty crate that used to contain rifles that were already distributed to the personnel around the base. She just sat there quietly as she looked away into the distance at the outline of the sun rising, the red cloud blocking its destructive effect on vampires and other nocturnal monsters. As she watched the sun, she thought back to what she achieved in life… and found herself wanting.

'I didn't do anything' thought Amy to herself, 'I was under the shadow of my mother, then slowly… hell I even realized it back then... but Willow was going to eventually cast a shadow over me too; then came the burning at the stake where I became a rat. Then came years of running in a small wheel while eating cheese, and then I became human because of Willow. We had fun, then she told me that she didn't want to see me again because she feared power. I was so mad… so mad that all I thought about was revenge. I met Warren, someone who hated the Scoobies as much as me. But then he killed Willow's former girlfriend, and then Willow killed Warren. I was so mad… I cursed her. But she broke that curse, and I hated her for it. I wanted the world to end and then take her along with it… take all of them. But the First was too much, and the people I hated saved me… Willow saved me.'

Amy frowned as she looked down on the ground which was when she noticed some sand on the concrete trembling. Looking back up into the distance, Amy opened her eyes wide as she got off the crate and headed to the Eastern part of the fencing that surrounded the base.

"No" said Amy as she turned and ran to tell the two Generals that an attack was coming. It was then that everyone in the base froze when they heard a loud growl while Amy ran as fast as she could while shouting at the soldiers who were suddenly frozen with fear as they realized that this could be the last day any of them would spend on Earth, "get into positions! They're coming."

Amy soon met with Harkness who had the same feeling and together they went to Building One where everyone was already preparing for battle.

"Hank, Giles, George" said Harkness, "this base will be surrounded on all sides, a massive force is coming. And the Three are right within that mass… I can feel their rage. They're going to drop their hammer here hard. We… we must go now."

"Captain Finn" said General Hammond who was wearing a vest, a side arm and a rifle, "gather your team, we're leaving in five minutes."

"Yes, sir" said Riley as he left Building One while the ground started to lightly tremble. Wearing the Atanik armband, Riley could feel that he was getting stronger.. just like he used to be when he was being dosed with drugs during his time with the Initiative. However, Thor had told the man that the armband wasn't addictive, that the virus it released would be countered by the body's own immune system in approximately twenty four hours, but they had to keep their energy levels up. Riley then ran as fast as he could, faster than a normal human.. but not at superspeed yet since the device was still calibrating to inform the team going into the city to get ready, and meet at the APC. He then ran as fast as he could to the medical building. Walking into the large room that was already preparing itself for injuries, he saw his wife helping Dr. Lam and the other personnel make sure that they had all their supplies in hand. Upon seeing the man, Sam Finn ran to him before she was pulled outside and to the side of the building away from the soldiers who were running around; getting as fast as they could to their assigned positions.

Riley pushed Sam against the wall of the building and gave her a deep kiss before pulling back and looking into her eyes.

"I love you, Sam" said Riley, "I have to go, honey."

Sam knew that there was something in his voice, something that told her that her husband may not be coming back. She knew that ever since the meeting with the Generals, Buffy, Giles, Amy, Harkness and the others…. That there was something going on that she, nor others on the base were allowed to know. She guessed that it was because of the First's immense reach, but hearing the strange tone in his voice caused her heart to race in worry.

"You… you come back" said Sam before she kissed him again, "do you understand me? You come back."

"Sam"

"You bring them all back" said Sam as she looked at the armband, and then back up at Riley, "you use the abilities that thing gives you.. and you bring them all home. Understand me, soldier?"

"Yes, ma'am" said Riley as he kissed her again before running as fast as he could.

"Come back to me" whispered Sam again before she ran back into the medical building.

It was ten minutes later that the magically hidden APC took off from the Sunnydale Army base and headed towards the city itself at full speed. The inside was crammed with all fifteen people stuffed into the vehicle. With the introduction of the Atanik armbands, their plans had slightly changed; particularly in regards to the one who would be placing the charges at the specific above ground doorways. Since Riley was the one with the Atanik armband and his speed and reflexes were already increased to the level beyond a normal humans, it was decided that he'll be the one placing the charges at five of the six entrances and at the stairwell that led to the basement.

They recalled Buffy and Xander saying that more demons could come through the Hellmouth once the battle started, and if that happened they would be overwhelmed.

"So cover up the entrance?" asked Giles as he looked at Buffy and Xander.

"Just take out the stairwell that leads to the basement" said Xander as he pointed to the building plan in front of him, "I've studied the plans of the school, there's only one that leads down there."

"So take out the stairwell" said Riley, "and slow them down."

"Yea" said Xander.

"That would prevent unexpected surprises" said Harkness nodding her head.

The original plan was to have four soldiers place the charges once the other entrances were destroyed, but with Riley stronger and much faster than any of them, he volunteered to do the whole job himself. That way, he told General Hammond, they could devote more people to protect Amy and Harkness while the rest protected the entrance.

Back in the APC which had just reached the outskirts of the city, General Hammond approached Riley who had his vest stuffed with protein bars while he unwrapped one and started to eat it.

"Son?" said the General as he stood next to him, "I don't know how this will play out, but what you've volunteered for…"

"I'm the only one who could do what needs to be done in half the time, sir" said Riley as he took another bite off the bar, "and, I'll succeed.. I know I will."

The General nodded his head when the APC suddenly stopped, and some of the soldiers who were stand stumbled onto each other before regaining balance.

"What's going on?" asked the General.

"We have demons coming this way, sir" said the man, "they're pouring out of the city towards the base, we can drive straight through them but…"

"They'll find out that we're here" said Harkness as she leaned forward and looked at General Hammond, "we need to wait until the last moment before we make our move. If we do it out here, then they'll know.. and make preparations to defend the city. If that happens…"

"We're screwed, ma'am?"

"Yes" said Harkness when suddenly everyone heard a beeping sound before turning towards Riley who was confusingly looking at the yellow light on the armband blinking when it suddenly turned green, and steady. Unknown to Riley, at that exact same time back at the base, all of those wearing the armbands which included Kennedy, Buffy, five of the next most experienced Slayers, Robin and Xander's armbands, along with two soldiers whose sole duty was to protect the doctors in the medical building had also turned green. The soldiers, Riley, Robin and Xander could feel a rush of power going through their bodies, but it was much different for the Slayers.

Already with enhanced abilities, the Slayers felt a moment of euphoria as the armbands were finally calibrated to their bodies.

While those in the base prepared themselves for war, back in the APC, Riley had an idea. Putting down the rifle he was carrying, the man stood up and took out his combat knife before asking for another one. He told the General his plan, who then turned and asked Harkness if it would work… would the demons… particularly the First know that an attack was coming if his plan went ahead.

"He would have to be fast" said Harkness as Amy nodded, "very, very fast."

"I feel like I could run a marathon" said Riley as he looked at his hands while smiling, "a thousand marathons.. this is.. wow.."

"Captain" said the General, "are you certain of this? One mistake…"

"We need to get through those demons with a minimum of fuss, sir" said Riley when they suddenly heard the distance sounds of weapons fire.

"Everyone! Hang on!" shouted the driver before telling the others that the demons were now running towards them.

"No" said General Hammond as he look out the side slits, "they're going towards the army base."

"This is the Sunnydale Base to all personnel" said General Landry's voice over their radio, with the sound of weapons fire in the background, "Code: Hammerfall. I repeat, Hammerfall is in effect… all of you know what to do. Godspeed."

Hammerfall was code for the beginning of the attack on the base. General Hammond knew that there was no time to waste on a risky plan as the one that Riley had suggested. Instead, he told Riley to hold off, and then told the driver to drive through the demons that were coming towards them.

"Use any space you can find" said the General as the APC started to move again, "they're heading towards us… we have to hope that they don't realize what's happening. If they were just simply walking towards us, and we mowed them down.. that would be a different story. They are making the first move… we use that as cover to get through them… use their rushing towards the base as a screen. Just keep away from the larger demons.

"Hang on!" shouted the driver as he swerved the vehicle while the people inside the APC were thrown around like rag dolls, but luckily they only managed to mow down a few of the smaller demons while getting slightly dinged by the larger ones. However the APC made it through undetected and headed into the now empty city. It was once they were close to the school that Amy and Harkness screamed in pain as they grabbed their heads.

"Miss Harkness?" asked the General as the other soldiers looked on concerned.

"Amy?" asked Riley, "what's going on?"

"From beneath us" said Harkness as she looked at the General, "it's going to devour us."

"Dear God" said Amy as she opened her eyes wide, "I.. I… saw it… I saw…."

"Amy?"

"Demons, millions coming out of the Hellmouth… more heading here from all over the country to fight, welcome the rest who are coming to this dimension…. Oh my God…. This is the next wave."

"We need to destroy this Hellmouth now" said Harkness, "it's the most powerful and… and I can feel it now. This close again… I can feel it. If the other Willow's right, if this truly is the oldest and most powerful of all the Hellmouths, closing it could automatically reduce the dark energy coming from the others. But this one is key… it needs to be closed."

"I've seen the demons coming through the caverns deep underneath the city, General" said Amy as he looked at the man, "we lose here… we'll definitely lose the war. If we close it, then we have a shot. Especially since we don't know when the other Willow will get back here."

"Sir!" shouted the driver as he slowed down once he reached the street outside the main entrance of the school, "we're here."

"You all know what to do" said the General as everyone nodded while the APC backed itself through the main entrance of the school, and towards the main door. The door to the rear of the APC then opened as Riley sped out with super speed while the rest got into position around the APC for any attack coming their way. The General ordered two soldiers to take Amy and Harkness to the principal's office since it was directly over the Hellmouth. It was then that Riley told the General over the radio that he managed to place charges on three of the five doorways into the school, while at the same time killing a few demons and Vampires that had been squatting inside. Before Amy and Harkness headed inside, Riley told the General that charges were placed at the stairwell, and that he'll need another few seconds to set charges on the other two doors.

"Understood" said the General as he turned around when he, and the others, heard the sounds of growling coming from the street at the main entrance of the school, "protect Amy and Agatha at all costs, we have company coming."

"Sir" said Riley, "I'm done… I can come and…"

"Blow the charges." said the General.

Soon everyone felt the ground around them shake as six massive explosions look out the five doorways into the school, as well as the stairwell to the basement.

"People" said the General as he raised his weapon at the demons that were squeezing through the only entrance to the school from the street outside, "fire!"

Weapons fire erupted as demons were getting mowed down by grenade launchers, RPG's, machine gun fire and even from the weapons on top of the APC. The demons were squeezing into the grounds of the school one at a time, and the General knew that they had to keep them away from the inside.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, 0654 hours.**

Buffy, Kennedy, Rona and Violet all had the armbands on them and were using all the power that came with the bands, as well as their own Slayer powers, to defend each side of the base. The demons had gotten close enough despite the weapons fire that had been mowing them down from the gun emplacements. They were beating back demons that were making it inside the base, since the mines that were laid in the perimeter had already been breached by the demons.

The blonde Slayer had watched in horror as, a few minutes earlier, some of the demons ran directly at the mines in a kamikaze run. They blew up the mines, and the same thing happened on all sides of the base as demons went on kamikaze runs. Once the mines had blown up, the demons that made it through the weapons fire, particularly the Turok-han started to invade the base. Buffy and the other slayers that were stationed in the base were working extra fast to not only prevent the demons from killing the soldiers who were firing the heavy weapons, but also to prevent the Turok-Han from getting further into the base. She saw a few more blurs running around the base; Atanik technology powered Slayers that were taking out the demons coming towards them, however.. there were a few that were always getting through.

Buffy remembered her first seven kills; four Turok-han, and three demons that were about six feet and had blades for hands. Holding an axe in her hand, she ran once the armband turned green. She was going so fast that the world turned still around her. She saw the bullets from the heavy weapons stay still in the air while she cut off the heads of one Turok-han after another, and then she threw the axe towards another Turok-han that was almost at a soldier at the far side of the area she was responsible for. Once she threw it, she ran to one of the bladed demons, used her supercharged strength to rip both blades of its body before killing it with its own weapons. She then used the same blades to eviscerate the other bladed demons that had made it into the base before throwing the blades in disgust onto the ground. She then ran towards the axe which had just dusted the Turok-Han that had been after the soldier who was firing the weapon at the incoming demons. Buffy then grabbed it out of mid-air before she stopped running. It was then that she saw the demons that she had cut up fall onto the ground.

"Cool" said Buffy as she looked at the armband which had some spots of blue blood from the blade handed demons before she laughed and started to kill more of those coming through.

All the while, she had also noticed the three clones were ruthless in the destruction of anything that came into the base. Some of the soldiers had been saved on the southern side of the base by Liam, John and Jane who coldly dispatched some red skinned demons who had attacked them using their horned heads. While some of the soldiers were stabbed, the clones used their reflexes to grab the oncoming demons and then twist their heads off their body before throwing it back onto the ground.. showing others who witnessed it why they were created in the first place; The ultimate weapons to battle demons, and the Wraith. Liam and the others then went on to try and prevent more deaths while providing cover for some of the other soldiers who were still firing to take the injured to the medical building.

Giles was looking on from inside Building One as General Landry and a few other personnel were getting prepared to go out there and join the fight.

Then, suddenly, they hear the ceiling over them rattling.

Thinking that maybe it was a demon that somehow made it on the roof, the General and the other soldiers in the building walked cautiously to the door waiting for a demon, or demons, to jump into the room. But nothing happened. The rattling of the roof soon gave way to a loud buzzing sound from outside.

Everyone in the immediate area, including the demons stopped dead in their tracks upon hearing the loud buzz which sounded like someone tuning a microphone. Taking their chance, Buffy and the other powered Slayers killed the surprised demons before they looked up into the air. Buffy could hear a strange sound right above her, and then a few more noises from the sky right overhead. Turning around as she spoke into her radio, she asked Rona, Violet and Kennedy if they heard the same thing.

"Yea" said Kennedy.

"It's all around us" replied Violet.

"Attention" said a familiar voice as Buffy looked around, and then looked towards the sky right above her. She was at the main entrance to the base as General Landry, Giles, and a few others ran out and stood by. Upon seeing them, Buffy sped to them and shrugged her shoulders.

"You guys heard that, right?"

Everyone nodded while looking up in the sky. They couldn't see anything abut they knew that the voice was coming from right overhead.

"Attention, vampires, and assorted demonic doofusses" said Willow as she hovered her cloaked Puddle Jumper at the main entrance to the base and looked out of her HUD as it commenced targeting all non-human life-forms. She then thought about the best place to fire her drones for the deadliest effect, and the computer then selected multiple areas to fire. She then zoomed in on the three large figures that were standing among a mass of demons; one had the head of a ram with black fire around its edges, another had a flaming head that looked like a wolf, and the last one had a head that was covered in darkness and blue fire.

'Scans show that their bodies are physical' thought Willow as she read the readouts, 'impressive energy readouts. But having a physical body… not good. You can die.'

Willow then closed the HUD and looked out the front window at the demons.

Back on the ground, Buffy and the others were still looking up when they saw two cylindrical ships with short stubby wings protruding from its sides hovering over them; they just appeared out of nowhere.

"This is Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, you have five minutes to leave this location and retreat to your own dimension."

"OK" said Xander through the radio, "did anyone just hear that?"

"She's insane" said Buffy as she looked at the ship, and then at the growling demons followed by a thunderous voice; the Three speaking as one.

"The human race will be extinct" said the Three together from where they were standing kilometres away from the base, "the time for demons to rule this world has come again, the First Evil claims it. And two of you will make no difference."

"Who said we're only two?" asked Colonel Carter as she ordered all the Jumpers to decloack.

Everyone in the base watched as one ship after another appeared over the sky of the Sunnydale Army base as launchers that contained what seemed to be yellow capsules appeared along the wings from inside the ship.

"We know what their strength is" said Willow as she communicated with the other ships "there are more than forty thousand demons out there, and more are coming. Fire drones at its highest yield for maximum damage. Watch your fire, save some for the inevitable coming of the dragons. These things here are flesh and blood…. Run them over if you have to. The inertial dampeners can take the punishment. Let's show them what these baby's do. Fire!"

Buffy and the others watched as four yellow lights from each ship shot out. They watched the lights hit several places in the mass of demons before giving off massive explosions that caused the ground to shake. Everyone saw eighty fireballs that wiped out multiple demons as the Three screamed in rage.

"Blue team, break off" said Colonel Carter as Willow and four others headed to the direction of the Three, "Green and Red teams, break off… you know what to do… and for crying out loud be careful."

The Colonel ploughed through demons while flying low near the ground as she took out a few demons that were screaming at her. She then angled the ship for a steep climb while she continued to get hit by the lighting. With the electrical charges killing the demons instantly, she then remained high enough for the lighting to attack her…. while dodging a few that hit the ground and killed a few demons.

"Slayers" said Buffy back at the base as she spoke into her radio while watching the ships whizz by, get hit by lighting and shrug it off, and then plough through more demons, "all Slayers, this is Buffy… we do what we do best.. Slay."

On that order, the Slayers who had the armbands started to use their supercharged powers to go out and beat the demons that were trying to coming in while the weapons fire from all the high calibre weapons, tanks and RPG's that fired into the mass of demons outside. Those who didn't have the armbands were given instructions by Robin, Liam, John and Jane as they fought any demons that came through the cracks.

"General" said Buffy as she looked at General Landry, "get back inside. Giles…. Go… go now."

"Yes" said a voice from behind Buffy.

The blonde Slayer saw Giles's eyes go wide before turning around to find herself facing the First Evil who had already taken her form, "go now, Giles. I'll be having fun with you later."

Buffy pulled back her axe back, and ran at super speed towards the First, but while the others were cutting the demons coming through into ribbons, Buffy found herself being held up into the air by the First Evil who had one hand on the arm that held the axe, and its other hand around the Slayer's neck.

"Miss Summers" said the General as he took a step forward.

"Buffy" exclaimed Giles as he and General Landry attempted to rush to her aid, but were told by the First that if they made one move, then it will snap her neck.

"I can feel the rest of my army coming" said The First as it looked at Buffy and turned into Angel, "and I'm sorry we couldn't be together. But…. you have to go. You're with me in the First, you know. Why should you exist?"

"Shut… up" said Buffy as she struggled to speak before she screamed when the First broke the hand holding the axe. Upon hearing the scream from Buffy, and the clattering of the axe as it fell onto the ground, it was Kennedy who watched in horror from the other side of the base while the First smashed Buffy into the ground before it reached down, and ripped the Atanik armband right off the Blonde Slayer's arm before it looked up and kicked the approaching Giles back onto the wall of the nearby building. The only thing that was going through Kennedy's ear at that moment was the blonde Slayer's high pitched scream.

"Buffy!" shouted Kennedy running as fast as she could when she suddenly stumbled and fell onto the ground heads over heels as the momentum from her super speed carried her forward towards the First.

"My, my" said the First smiling as it looked at the injured Kennedy before looking at Rona who also stumbled while running and fell onto the ground. However, Liam was close by her to beat back the demons who were coming towards her while a few soldiers brought the exhausted Slayer back to the medical building as the armband slipped off. The First then turned to Kennedy and watched the armband disengage, and fall off, "that was embarrassing. I give that performance a five point five. Your finishing needed a little more work."

"Fire!" shouted General Landry as he and the other soldiers next to him opened fire while more explosions were erupting around them caused by the ships flying over the mass of demons, and the tanks that were firing shells and running over as many demons as possible while two of them took up position to block the main entrance of the base, but left enough space for some of the soldiers wearing the armbands to run out and search for the formerly supercharged Slayers. In the meantime, the First glared at the General as it stepped back after getting shot. It looked down at the bleeding holes on its chest before it looked back up at the General. The First started to walk towards the General when Kennedy, who was bleeding from a cut on the forehead and arm, reached out and grabbed the First's leg; pulling her back with all her remaining Slayer strength. Kennedy then looked at the General who, along with the other soldiers, had loaded new magazines into their weapons and told them to fire.

The First stepped back as the rounds hit it's body when suddenly the whole ground shook. Giles, who was still dazed after the kick from the First, ran to Buffy who was sobbing from the pain of the broken arm, and from having entire sections of the flesh of her left forearm and wrist torn off after the First ripped the Atanik armband off. Giles held the sobbing girl close as she screamed in pain. He looked down at the injury and closed his eyes when he could see the bone, and then he saw the blood that was pouring onto the ground and shook his head. He knew that this could mean only one thing, his Slayer was going to die… and die very soon.

"Buffy" said Giles as he cradled the crying girl's body with his good arm while General Landry and the other soldiers walked over to him and covered the older man.

Suddenly the ground shook again, which was followed by a bright white lance of light that erupted from Sunnydale to the sky.

"What… what did you do!?" screamed the First as it looked at Giles and the others who were looking at the light as it pierced the red clouds. Everyone stopped, including the demons and the ships, while they watched in amazement as the red clouds started to dissipate and the first rays of real sunshine shone through the clouds.

"They did it" said Kennedy as she looked up at the First who looked down at her furiously.

"You" hissed the First looking at Kennedy, and then at everyone in the base, "you… you… all of you…"

"You lost, bitch" said Kennedy just before the First got on one knee and, in a swift motion, punched a hand though Kennedy's chest while the powered soldiers carried the other weakened, formerly supercharged, Slayers back into the base.

All the while, the demons looked at the lance of light confused.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Giles looked on in horror as the First tore out the Kennedy's heart, and crushed it in her bare hands.

Just then the demons started to scream when the sunlight hit them. The base personnel looked on as many demons just combusted… particularly the Turok-han, and other vampires; as well as other nocturnal demons who ran screaming as their skin burned. However, there were still enough demons around to end the people in this base before they attacked the other humans around the world.

The First, blood dripping off its fist as it took on Kennedy's form, approached Buffy who looked at it through tear stained eyes.

"You know what you did?! Huh?! Do YOU!?"

The First swiped away General Landry before he could fire another round at the First, and it did the same for the other soldiers. They hit the wall behind them and then fell, unconscious but breathing, onto the ground. In the meantime, the First stood over Buffy as the ships in the sky started making attacks again before the First looked up, and whistled. She then looked down at Buffy and Giles, and told them that it was over. She won.

"Dragons" said the first as twenty dragons appeared in the distance, some the size of buses... while the others the size of a Boeing Seven-Four-Seven with three heads, their screams reaching the First while the Three waited in the sidelines as they continued to swat away the small ships that were flying circles around them, "they will take care of these pests."

The First then turned and grinned at Buffy, then at Giles, before it pulled its fist back.

Liam was on the other side of the base as he protected the weakened Violet whose armband had fallen off, together with the normal Slayers. He and the other Slayers killed more demons while another Slayer took Violet to one side to rest and eat the protein bars that were in her vest before he noticed the First preparing to punch Buffy.

"Buffy!" shouted Liam as he ran towards her and Giles as fast as he could. As he ran he felt the ground quake again, while at the same time he remembered the first time she named him. Since then however, they hadn't had much contact. He thought that she was avoiding him, and he later overheard her talking to the one they called Willow that he was exactly like someone named Angel.

"Even his eyes, Will" said Buffy as the clone overheard them with his enhanced hearing, "he's so like him… I.. maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth and called him Liam.. you know."

"You still miss Angel, Buff" Liam remembered Willow saying, "he was the one you were in love with. And now… now you think you have another chance, so you named him Liam. But you got scared and…"

'I must remind her that I am not this Angel' thought Liam as he ran towards the First as it swung its fist, 'and I am not…. Wait… what the?'

Liam watched as Buffy prepared herself for the punch from the First as Giles held on tight to the blonde Slayer, telling her that he'll die with his daughter. The both of them closed their eyes as Giles leaned forward and kissed Buffy's cheek while expecting to die at any time. Suddenly the both of them heard the First cursing multiple times.

"No! no! no!" screamed the First as Giles and Buffy opened their eyes to find that there was a white shield that covered the both of them, the same shield that covered Willowearlier. They saw the shield flare as a bright white ball of light floated in front of them. The First's screams seemed to be so far away as the ball of white light pulsed when there was suddenly another quake. Looking up, Giles saw one of the cylindrical ships heading towards the city before he looked back at the light while the First continued to pound her fists on the shield.

"You are Willow's light, are you not?" asked Giles.

The ball of light moved up and down before it floated closer to Buffy's broken arm when there was suddenly a cracking sound, and then the Slayer was able to move that arm. Giles then saw the light head to Buffy's other ripped arm and tap on it. Buffy, and Giles, watched in shock as the wound started to close up. Buffy could see the muscle fibers regenerating, and then stitching themselves, just before the wound and then the resulting scar vanished. Giles then helped Buffy sit up as she looked at her arms before flexing them and then looking at the light.

"Why did you help me?" asked Buffy as she looked at the light, "you're supposed to be Willow's guardian angel."

As the First kept on pounding on the shield, it flared before throwing the First out of the base and into the mass of demons outside with a thud.

"You saying I can't help my sister?"

Giles and Buffy widened their eyes at the sound of the familiar voice and watched as the light pulsed before growing larger, and larger. Soon, it began taking a familiar form. The both of them, as did the other soldiers and Slayers close by watched as the light faded away to reveal a smiling brunette in a cream and silver dress kneeling in front of Buffy and Giles.

"Daw… Dawnie?" asked Buffy though tears as she reached for the young woman whose dress faded away to reveal a orange T-Shirt and blue jeans.

"Hi Buffy" said the descended Dawn as Buffy screamed and hugged her sister while Giles still looked on in shock, as did some of the others. However, their attention turned to the outside of the base as the remaining demons, including the Three started to run at them. Dawn helped Buffy stand up before she turned around as demons started to break through the fence.

"Liam!" shouted Dawn as she looked to her left at the demons coming behind him, "down."

Dawn raised her hand as an electrical charge traveled from the tips of her fingers to the palm of her hand before an electrical beam shot out and went through one demon and then another while Liam turn and ripped apart another demon. Dawn then looked at the axe that Buffy had dropped and telekinetically picked it up, turned around and then handed it to a confused Buffy.

"I'll explain everything, Buffy" said Dawn, "I'm me…. but there are some thing's you need to know. But first."

"Save the world?" asked Buffy.

"Save the world" said Dawn she turned and formed two balls of energy in the palms of her hand while standing next to her sister.

 **Sunnydale High School, 10 minutes earlier.**

While Riley and two other soldiers were leading Amy and Harkness to the Principals office, they walked past numerous demons of different shapes and sizes that were torn apart; as well as several piles of ash in many places. Amy looked at Riley with an eyebrow raised while the man shrugged, telling Amy that the demons and vampires were right there for the picking… and that he wasn't going to waste these enhanced abilities, that he was going to use them while he had them.

The group heard the sounds of weapons fire from the entrance turning into a distant thunder as they reached the principal's office. It was then that everyone stopped when they heard voices in the distance, one of which seemed to be Willow's voice, calling the demons that were gathered near the Sunnydale Army base, doofusses.

They then heard Colonel Carter telling the demons to surrender and leave, and then they heard the Three make their threats. Riley and the others then felt the ground shake before the soldiers looked out the window and could barely see large explosions taking place in the distance. The soldiers than turned to face Riley who said that back-up probably arrived.

"Riley" said Harkness gently, "you must help George and the others. Don't worry about us."

"I have my orders, Miss Harkness" said Riley before he turned and told the other soldiers that they needed to guard the door while they did what they needed to do to protect Amy and Harkness.

"Riley" said Amy, "listen to me. There is a chance that we will die, there is a really high chance and to be honest with you? I am fucking terrified. But if the others at the front door fail? if the demons come in? We will all die for nothing."

"Go, Riley" said Harkness as Amy took a silver cup, and a few other ingredients from out of a bag that she had put on the floor, "their ammunition is limited, but your abilities are not. Help them."

Riley didn't like it, but he knew that Harkness had a point; if General Hammond and the others failed… then all of them were dead. He then turned to the soldiers at the door and ordered them not to leave, and to shoot anything that wasn't human if they came at them.

"Of course, sir" said the soldiers before Riley looked at the two women inside the room.

"Good luck" said Riley, "and… and if you don't…."

"Help them, Riley" said Harkness as Riley, gave the two women a salute before leaving the room at full speed.

"Amy" said Harkness as she looked at the blonde young woman while she was preparing the materials for the ritual, "I am sorry."

"We're saving the world, Miss Harkness" said Amy as she looked up at the older woman while explosions could be heard in the distance, "I am scared, but.. but this is something that needs to be done."

"Come" said Harkness as the ingredients were placed inside the cup before she helped Amy stand up. Harkness told the soldiers at the door not to interfere the start of the ritual, no matter what they see or hear.

"Understood, ma'am" said one of them, "is it true, that.. that this is a one way trip."

"Most likely, young man" chuckled Harkness, "I've lived a full life, I suppose."

"And what the hell" said Amy, "we're saving the world."

"I hope you survive.. the both of you" said one of the soldiers.

Amy and Harkness nodded their heads before they looked at each other. The both of them then held each others hands while facing each other with the cup containing all the ingredients for the spell in between the two of them. Harkness told Amy that they had to say the initial spell together. Nodding her head, the two witches started to chant in ancient languages that the soldiers had never heard before. They looked into the room as the two women gave small screams while chanting the spell as several cuts were being made by an invisible force on their arms, hands, and faces. The two soldiers looked at each other in worry, recalling what Harkness had told them about interfering. They could only watch helplessly as the chanting grew more intense as the immediate area around them started to shake. The soldiers watched in horror as the blood flowed from the cuts that were made onto the women's bodies by the invisible force and into the cup which was rising into the air. Once the cup was chest high, the soldiers heard a high pitched sound coming from the cup as it started to become crushed, along with the ingredients, before it disappeared into a sphere of blood. The two soldiers could even see the surface of the sphere rippling before it started to spin faster, and faster.

The two soldiers noticed that the chanting had stopped as the two women looked at each other while they too slowly rose into the air.

"Goodbye, my dear" said Harkness as she shed a tear, "I'll see you on the other side."

"Goodbye, Miss Harkness" said Amy, "and thank you for everything."

The soldiers watched the two women floating in the air as they both arched their backs while a blue light travelled from them, to the sphere of blood that was slowly turning white. They saw the two women breathing hard while they seemed to be getting older, and older.

"Gary" whispered on of the soldiers as he nodded towards Harkness who was panting and looked like a living skeleton, and then at Amy who looked as if she was eighty years old. Just then there was a lance of white light that erupted from the sphere and punched a hole through the roof, and into the sky that could be seen all the way from the Army base and the Jumpers that were in the air as it punched through the red clouds. They then heard the ground quake again as another lance of white light erupted form the bottom of the large sphere that punched through the floor.

"Get… get… ge out" said Amy softly as she looked at the soldiers, "we… not…. Not…"

"Ma'am" said the other soldier as he stepped forward but was stopped by the other one known as Gary, as he nodded at Harkness. The blue stream of energy had stopped flowing as her body slowly seemed to de-atomise into the atmosphere. Soon the blue stream stopped flowing from Amy's body as well before the same thing happened to her body.

"Move.. move.. move" said Gary as he saw the sphere of light fall through the hole that it made in the floor of the principal's office. As they ran through the halls of the school, they could feel the building start to shake. When they reached the entrance where the APC was located, they saw that Riley was using the enhanced abilities from the armband to hold the other demons off while the others kept on firing. However, they could see that the whole area from the door, to the main entrance, and to the street was full of demons eager to make meals of them.

"Sir" shouted Gary at the General who looked back at them, "they're gone.. literally gone. There's nothing left of them, sir."

The General just nodded his head and ordered everyone back into the APC, that they were going to try and plough through them. The General and the others covered each other as they entered the APC, however more demons were coming into the school and he knew that Riley would never be able to handle everything alone. So he called Riley back into the APC and closed the rear door behind him. Once everyone was in, the driver started the APC and pressed the accelerator, however there was a problem.

A few of the larger demons were preventing the vehicle from leaving.

In fact, they were pushing the APC back into the school while others were shaking the vehicle when there was another quake.

While that was going on at the school, Willow and her team were trying to keep the Three out of balance when her instruments read a massive energy spike from the city.

"Athena" said one of the other pilots as he fired a drone that went through one of the Three, before it came about and lodged itself where the heart would be before the drone exploded inside the demon. They saw it fall back as the ground quaked again while the pilot told Willow about the energy spike from the city. Willow turned about and looked at the white light that pierced the red clouds, and opened her eyes wide when the red cloud started to disperse. It was then that every pilot started to talk at once, and it was Colonel Colonel Carter who reminded everyone to stay on task, that they hadn't won yet. It was then that a HUD popped up to show human life signs in the city.

"What the hell!" said Willow as she opened a communications channel to all ships, "this is Athena, I'm registering life-signs in the city. I am out of drones so I'll go check out what's going on, and attempt a rescue if possible. Everyone else, stay safe."

Willow saw the sunlight hitting the city and, unknown to her; some of the demons that was holding on to the APC and preventing it from moving were nocturnal and hated the sunlight. Their skin burning, they ran away; However, the other demons still snarled and pushed the APC further into the school building.

As the redhead prepared to make her move, giant blips came on another HUD. She zoomed in on the blips and frowned.

"We've got dragons incoming" shouted Willow, "everyone knows what to do. Blue team, take care of the Three…. Enough of playing around with them. Show them what Lantean technology can do."

"Understood" said the four members of her team.

Willow then flew towards the city at full speed until she was right over the entrance to the High School. Frowning at the sea of demons, the redhead used her scanners to find the human life-signs… and she did.

"The APC" said Willow to herself as she lowered the ship slightly. She saw that the demons were trying to smash the front windows open to get in, "damn it."

The redhead ran a scan of the surrounding structure and saw that many of the other doorways into the school were destroyed. She then scanned for roof access and found one stairwell that was close to the APC's location.

"This is Major Willow Rosenberg to those personnel in the APC" said Willow as she activated her external speakers, "I need all of you to get out of the vehicle, run into the school and take a left in the second hallway. Take another right in the first hallway and then.. then the first stairwell that you see. That will get you rooftop access, which is where I'll be for extraction. Move it.. go… go.. go…"

While the people in the APC got out of the vehicle, which was soon flipped over and pushed aside by the demons as they poured into the school. They ran after the personnel while Willow floated up to the roof while opening the rear ramp before she turned and lowered the ship; the rear facing the door with the redhead releasing the controls, and then taking the plasma weapon that was on her waist and heading to the ramp while aiming at the door. She was going to fire the weapon if it was a demon that made it through, and not any of the APC personnel; and then close the hatch before running to the cockpit and getting herself out of there.

In the meantime, the ball of energy that was formed in the principal's office pulsed as it dropped deep underground past ancient caverns where demons were already heading to the surface.

Millions of demons from the Earth's oldest Hellmouth.

It was nearly ten million years ago that the Alterra and the Furlings first opened it. Back then the Hellmouth, or the Gateway as it was known, was bordered by a ring of naquada.. much like a Stargate except it had no symbols. The naquada was mystically connected to the Earth, on the side of a high wall in the deepest cavern by the Furlings. When it was first opened, the space between the ring shone as if it was glass while the Furlings various mystical sects looked in wonderment at the multiple dimensions that they could see. The mystic sects of the Furlings were cheering when they felt the mystical energy flowing into this dimension. It was soon after that the Alterra, feeling betrayed, left in Atlantis. But not before threatening the Furlings who betrayed them.

"The plague destroyed our people" said one of the Alterra before leaving for Atlantis, "you have seven days to remove yourselves from this planet. We will destroy the plague by annihilating all life in this galaxy."

"This is research" said one of the Furlings as he pointed to the Hellmouth, "you must…"

"No" said the Alterra, "you stay… you die. You may do what you wish. Goodbye."

It was seven days later that Atlantis left Earth, and the Alterra then activated the Dakara Superweapon. Millions of mystic practicing Furlings died, while billions more left the Milky Way. Most regretting what the mystical sect of their own species had done; the problem with trust that they knew was now created between the Furlings and the Alterra.

However, the Hellmouth remained open as energy entered the Earth dimension, powerful energy… dark energy.

It was years later that the being known as the First Evil came through the Hellmouth, followed by those that would later become the Powers that Be, along with powerful evil demons form other dimensions that would eventually give rise to stories of the Old Ones. Demons whose blood would mix with later mortals, or other species to become vampires, or other assorted demons.

All the while, the Gateway remained open, the mystical connection to the Earth providing it with unlimited power.

Over millions of years, the Hellmouth became corrupted by the dark energy that seeped into the world until even the glossy mirror like appearance between the rings turned into a black, almost water-like rippling pool, similar to an event horizon of an active wormhole of a Stargate; except this allowed things to come in to the Earth dimension from multiple dimensions. The First had called forth all of its children from every dimension. The Sunnydale Hellmouth was the key.. without this one the others would be essentially useless.

The other Hellmouths were much smaller and only released mystical energy from other dimensions into this world… energy which complemented the magic that had already existed since the universe was created.

As more demons came through the black liquid of the Hellmouth and walked into the massive cavern deep underground. They all prepared for the push to the surface when suddenly a large sphere of light floated down from the surface of the planet. The demons looked up at the light and many snarled; while others looked with fascination, at least until the massive explosion caused by the sphere of light. An explosion that released a shockwave that shattered the nearby caverns before liquefying the demons below. The entire area started to shake as huge chunks of rock fell into the cavern.

More chunks of rock fell, covering the Hellmouth and preventing more demons from crossing over. However, it didn't stop there.

Back on the surface, there was a massive tremor as Willow was thrown to the other side of her ship as the roof door opened and she saw uniformed personnel running towards her as she motioned to them.

"Get in!" shouted Willow as she ordered one of the soldiers to cover those coming through the door while she gets the ship ready to fly.

Nodding his head, the soldier took out his sidearm and pointed it past the people running out of the door while Willow activated the HUD. She could hear the people coming behind her panting as they took a seat. Willow looked over her shoulder and saw many of them sitting down with their heads in their hands. Frowning, Willow turned back to her HUD and noticed that the seismic readings were off the scale in a small, contained area.

"We need to leave, now!" shouted Willow as she looked back at General Hammond and Reilly who just ran in while the soldier at the rear ramp, and then Riley, started firing at the demons that rushed out the roof exit.

"Leave!" shouted the soldier as Willow pressed a button on the right side of the console; closing the ramp while the Jumper rose straight up into the clear blue sky.

Clear except for the dragons in the distance attacking the other Jumpers.

In the meantime, everyone looked in shock not just at Willow looking at a holographic HUD… but also at what the HUD was showing.

Willow flew the ship high over the city while everyone in the ship watched Sunnydale die as the entire city collapsed in itself and formed a crater. The redhead knew that all the demons in the city were dead, that nothing could have survived that. She then headed back to the Sunnydale Army base as the next stage of the battle began.

TBC.


	11. Chapter 11

**Willow's Quarters, Sunnydale Army Base, 0650 hours.**

Willow could hear the battle that was going around her quarters. She could hear the screams of the demons, the screams of the monsters, as well as the screams of the people who ere battling them... all battling to protect their future on this planet.

A battle that would spell the end of humanity on Erath if they failed. Willow closed the door behind her after Xander wished her good luck, and made a promise to the redhead that he will protect her, even if he had to die. Willow wanted to tell Xander that everything was going to be fine, but the truth was that even she wasn't so sure. Willow knew that she regained her memories of when she was Athena and she slowly remembered the training that Oma had given her so that she could ascend, but deep down inside, she was still scared of the power she wielded; the same power that she used to nearly destroy the world.

'But then again' thought Willow to herself as she walked to the center of the room while she heard the sounds of screaming from demons who, Willow assumed, were being cut down thanks to the Atanik armbands, 'back then I was angry, full of rage. Maybe what I need here is to remember what I almost did after Hera died. I was full of anger, full of anguish that I unleashed the darkest part of myself. I... no... stop thinking in terms of black and white. It's never like that. Oma once told me that there is no dark, and no light.'

"It is your actions that define if you are good or evil," Willow remembered Oma telling her all those years ago at Kheb.

'I used my powers... the same powers that Tara would warn me against using until I became dependent on it' thought Willow to herself as she looked at the Scythe, 'I became addicted to it, used it when it never was necessary. I made her forget, and now... now she'd dead and I tried vengeance. I killed, no... I murdered Warren and would have done the same to the other two if my friends hadn't stopped me. Giles sacrificed everything for me, and I nearly killed him. I nearly killed him and he still sent me to the Devon Coven for their version of Witch Rehab. Can't believe it; then I came back hoping that I had more control over my power, but I was still afraid.. afraid of what I could do if I lost control. So much power within me, was that why Kennedy was attracted to me? She told me I had power and that.. that made me feel good. She... no... ultimately Oma's right, I... what the..."

Willow felt the ground shake a few times when she suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked straight ahead.

"My God" whispered Willow to herself as she held on to the Scythe, "they did it, Amy and Miss Harkness they... oh God... I can feel their life force being stripped away and... AAAHH!"

Xander was outside Willow's quarters speeding past one demon after another as they kept on coming into the base, and towards his position. He and the other soldiers killed them all just before he heard the voice of the other Willow, and was excited to see the Puddle Jumpers that launched the drones into the mass of demons and took many of them out. While the Jumpers were conducting bombing runs, Xander had been using the Atanik Armbands to take out any demons that had gone through the soldiers around him who were using heavy weaponry to take the demons out. It was when he ripped the head off one demon that he saw the sky outside getting brighter as the red clouds started to dissipate. Xander looked up amazed before he looked at the Turok-Han that were coming towards him from a section of the fencing that had been taken down on the other side of the base. HE could see that there were more weapons fire on that side of the base, followed by screams from various demons that burned up in, or escaped from, the sunlight.

Including the Turok-han that was heading towards his position. All he did was stare at the ancient vampires as they got bathed in sunlight, and were then turned to dust. Xander gave them a small wave when he heard the sound of Willow's scream from inside her room. He then looked at Robin who sped by him before cutting six demons apart which a sword in each hand. Xander told him that he'll be right back after he checked up on Willow; it was by this time that Dawn had descended to the lower planes.. and Xander would later complain to Buffy in regards to why he was always the last to know about any good news.

For now, Xander had his own section to take care off, and that was Willow's quarters. HE was certain that the First knew what Willow planned to do, so he was worried that maybe the First had gotten to her. Concerned about the scream that Willow had given out, the one eyed man ran to her quarters and opened the door only to see the Scythe laying on the floor and Willow on her knees while clutching her chest.

"Will?" asked Xander as he sped to her and kneeled down while the soldiers outside continued to fire, keeping away the demons when Willow looked up at Xander with tears in her eyes, "Will, what happened?

"Kennedy" said Willow as her voice broke, "I felt Kennedy die."

"I'm sorry, Will" said Xander as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick hug while the other soldiers were calling out for him. Xander then looked into the redhead's eyes and told her that once they get rid off the First, they will mourn everyone who died, "we fight on for her memory, Will."

"I... I know" said Willow, "we... we fight on."

Xander helped Willow stand up before he wiped her eyes when they heard screams in the distance as Willow's eyes went wide open ad she looked at Xander in shock.

"Dragons, Xander" said Willow, "Dragons."

"We'll mourn Kennedy, Will" said Xander, "and.. and I also want to hear your stories.. you know… about Atlantis.. and stuff. So we are going to survive this. Now, you need to contact the First Slayer. You can do it."

Willow nodded her head before Xander ran off, and closed the door behind her. Willow looked at the Scythe and took in a deep breath before she held her arms out in front of her. The redhead started to say a spell as the Scythe slowly rose up until the blade was touching the finger tips of both her hands.

Closing her eyes, Willow reached out into the Earth and felt the dark energy that had been already released from all the Hellmouths at once continuing to poison the Earth. The redhead felt sick to her stomach as she started a spell.

"I call on Sineya" said Willow as she felt a warmth go through her body as she recalled the young woman, "I call on the First of many… the First of the Ones… I call on her to request an audience."

Willow felt the ground around her rumbling as she continued to chant.

"I…." said Willow when the door to her quarters suddenly swung open and there stood three horned demons. Willow took her hands off the Scythe's blade and then pointed them at the demons and told them to leave her alone. A gust of wind then pushed the demons back out just as Xander cut their heads off all at once. Once he was done, the one eyed man leaned on the door frame panting as he reached for a protein bar, and smiled.

"Hungry" said Xander before he scoffed down the three protein bars that were in his vest pocket. He then locked the door behind him and ran to the crowd of demons that were charging into the base. Xander grabbed the swords in his hands and ran around killing ten at one go, and then he saw a few of the new Slayers that Major Willow beamed in struggling so he ran there and killed the demons before heading back to his sector panting.

The Slayers he helped saw what he did, and it was then that Buffy's voice came through all of their radios; and this time her voice was different.

It was more confident.

"Fight, and kill as many as you can" said Buffy over the radio before she and Dawn, two sisters fighting back to back, ducked and then one fired energy bolts through the face of three demons, and the blonde Slayer kicked out at the demons she was facing before she ducked, swerved and then punched with one hand, and then turned and beheaded the demon… followed by another one, and another one.

"Buffy, down" said Dawn who as face to face with Buffy whose eyes went wide when Dawn raised her arms at her.

"Step to your left" said Buffy as Dawn stepped to her left and she first a blast of energy through the demon that was coming from behind Buffy, and at the same time.. the blonde Slayer threw the axe she was carrying straight between the eyes of the demon that was behind Dawn.

"Watch your backs, protect each other" said Buffy as she spoke into the radio when there was another large tremor that made everyone fall back onto the ground, including Willow.

"The Hellmouth" said Willow with a smile as she closed her eyes, "the…. The energy released is much lower than before… but.. but the Earth'sstill poisoned. Too much was released earlier. I… I don't know if… if I can do this…"

"No" continued Willow as she slowly stood up, "I have to do this, the others are depending on me."

"My name is Willow Rosenberg" said Willow as she placed her finger tips on the blade of the Scythe again after it floated up to her chest level, and closed her eyes, "I was once called Athena… the one whom Sineya called mother, the one who loved Sineya… I call on the First of the Ones, the First of the lines of Slayers… I call on the guardian of the Chosen. Hear me, I do not seek an audience with the great power. I seek an audience with the one who thought me to hunt, to fish, to take care of myself…. I seek the audience of the little girl I met all those years ago, I seek Sineya of the Plains."

Willow heard a distant rumpling before she saw light from behind her closed eyelids.

Opening her eyes, Willow found herself on the plains of Nairobi. She could see her old home just standing there as a light breeze brushed past the grass land close by. Willow then noticed the Gateship before she sensed a presence behind her. Turning around, Willow smiled when she saw the same ten year old girl she met all those years ago for the first time.

"Sineya" said Willow as she took a step forward while smiling, the smile then vanishing when she saw Sineya talking a step back, "Sineya? It's me, Athena."

Sineya then started to giggle as she called out to Willow before she ran to a mouth of a cave that appeared out of nowhere. Confused, Willow turned around and saw that she wasn't near her home anymore, she was at the entrance to the cave she entered where she later saw the dead clones, the same place where Sineya was forcefully possessed by the Shadow Demon to become the First Slayer. Willow walked to the mouth of the cave, and could hear Sineya's laughter from inside it.

"I… I don't understand" said Willow as she looked at the mouth of the cave while her hands shook in fear. She noticed that her forehead was already sweating while the mouth of the cave getting further and further away from her, while at the same time… Sineya's laughter also seemed to be getting further and further away.

Willow just stood there transfixed as fear gripped her heart. She couldn't step forward… no matter how much she willed her legs. Standing still Willow closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths.

'Accept your fears' thought Willow as she remembered what Oma told her, 'accept that darkness will always exist within yourself, as it does in all lower beings. Some try to deny it, some fear it.. but everyone must accept it… and then let it go. Let go of that burden that weighs down your soul. What you did has already happened, it cannot be changed. What you can change is the future.'

Willow opened her eyes and saw that the cave entrance was right there once again. With her hands rolled into fists, and her face etched with determination… Willow walked through the dark entrance of the cave.

 **Sunnydale Army base, few minutes later.**

Back in the army base, among the fighting that was going on all around her, Violet was still propped up against a wall after getting up after having fell from the last huge tremor that brought everyone down. She was so exhausted after the Atanik armband dropped off that she was being fed one protein bar after another by one of the soldiers while being protected by more of his fellow soldiers, and three Slayers. However, it wasn't too long before the number of demons increased in their area. Violet saw the soldier who was helping her get pulled away while looking on in horror as two demons pulled his body apart while the other Soldiers fired on nearly thirty who were coming their way.

'What am I doing?' thought Violet to herself as, despite her exhaustion, picked up the sword she was holding on to earlier as she saw one of the Slayers get gutted while fours of the demons went down under weapons fire. She panted as she ran towards the small battle as another solder fell. Screaming, Violet swung her sword having found reserves of strength within her as she cut of the head of the demon that just killed the soldier. She then fought alongside the surviving Slayer as they dodged, kicked, punched and stabbed three of the demons while the remaining soldiers in their group shouted that more were coming.

'We're surrounded' said one of the soldiers. Violet looked behind her and saw the soldiers backing up towards them as seven more demons joined while more were pouring into the base. She saw them get immediately gunned down by weapons fire from the roof while the ships in the air took down five of the twenty dragons using those yellow pellets of light. But Violet shook her head and got back to the situation at hand as she and the other Slayer s back up towards the backing soldiers as more demons were coming at them. Violet soon felt the soldiers and her back to back as they watched the demons prepare to make their move while the red haired Slayer spoke into her radio.

"If… if anyone can hear" said Violet, "we… we…"

One of the demons then snarled before giving off a roar.

Violet knew that she was going to die as she and the Slayer, along with the soldiers who had already gone onto their last magazines prepared to fire their weapons. The Soldiers started to fire, while Violet and the other new Slayer who was just deposited to the Sunnydale Army base by Willow yesterday prepared to fight when suddenly the demons stopped moving, and then were pushed back. Looking surprised at the other Slayer, and then at the soldiers behind her, Violet noticed a ball of light next to her that was pulsing as it slowly grew larger until the light had what seemed to be tendrils floating at the edges. The light then dimmed to reveal someone she thought she would never see again. Violet heard the soldiers behind her raise their weapons at the new figure, and she immediately turned around and told them not to fire.. that she was an ally.

Violet then turned back and saw the girl in a red shirt, black jeans and a blue jacket grin at her before she turned and fired a white energy blast at one of the demons that was getting up, before she turned and punched the second demon and then broke its neck as it doubled over. Violet watched as the girl went on to the other demons that surrounded them and killed them ruthlessly before telling the red haired Slayer what she were waiting for, that there was a fight still going on. The soldiers then continued to fire their weapons while the girl fired blue electric blasts from the palm of her hands to protect the Slayers and soldiers she was fighting alongside, while at the same up she used her other hand to break the legs of those remaining demons before stamping on their necks with her foot.

The jacket wearing girl cracked her knuckles after the last demon that used to be surrounding them fell, before she backtracked towards Violet and the others.

"Faith?" asked Violet as she stood next to the Slayer who she knew was killed the day they stormed the High School seven months ago.

"Vi" said Faith as more demons came towards them before they were pushed back mentally by her. She then looked back and told the soldiers to get more ammo before looking at Violet, and the other new Slayer, "Come on kiddo's, we still got more coming in."

"New powers?" asked Violet as she saw Faith fire another white blast of energy from her palm.

"Yea" said Faith, "I'll explain later, you take the new girl and fight these demons, I'll help the soldier boys behind us."

Violet nodded her head while suddenly fell a confidence grow within her as soon as she saw Faith again. She knew that every Slayer that stayed in the Summers house before the Fall respected Faith, and many were in awe of her. Including Violet, who then looked back at the new Slayer and told her to follow her lead as they started to fight the demons.

"We have more Slayer's incoming" said Faith as two more new Slayers joined the fight as one of the Cylindrical ships flew overhead and headed to the far side of the base, near the main entrance.

"How did you know?" asked Violet as the two Slayers took down four more demons.

"I called them" said Faith while she blocked one of the demons attack with her arm while mentally twisting the head of another one while at the same time kicking the knee cap of the demon that was attacking her, and then when it stumbled backwards, Faith saw a sword of a dead Slayer lying on the ground covered in blood. She telekinetically grabbed it and pulled it towards her before she swung around and chopped the top of the demon's head right off. She went on to the next few demons while two soldiers ran back with more magazines before they too opened fire on the demons.

At that same time, Willow was in the Jumper that had just rescued Riley, General Hammond and the others as they watched the battle in the Army base from above. She saw that Buffy, and someone who looked a whole lot like Dawn, General Landry and the others were being attacked by demons. Willow told everyone to hold on as she sped down and mowed down the demons who were attacking Buffy and the others before she had an idea.

Activating her HUD, she opened communications to all Jumpers while at the same time she brought up a plan of the base on another HUD.

"Attention, all Gateships" said Willow as she ploughed through more demons, while some of them had already entered the deeper parts of the base and were slowly being attacked by the soldiers, especially those who had the Atanik armbands, Xander, Robin, and Slayers. Willow knew that the interior would have to be taken care of by them, that the Jumper couldn't fire into the base since the blast from the resulting explosion of the drones would kill humans too… and they needed everyone. Willow landed the ship once it was clear before she opened another HUD to extend the Jumpers force field as far as it would go, "I need all ships that have expended their drones. Land at the coordinates I'm sending you, and then extend shield coverage to their maximum range. We should be able to cover ninety percent of the base if I can get ten ships."

"Understood" said one of the Lantean pilots after he used the last of his drones to take down another dragon before he and ten others came about and headed back to the base where they landed their Jumpers and extended their shields to cover nearly the entire base.

Willow then ran a scanned and could see that the danger still wasn't over, that while the other demons were unable to come in from the outside, the ones that were inside the shield were still a danger to others.

'At least they're not getting reinforcements' thought Willow to herself as she opened the rear ramp and waited for everyone to get out before leaving the ship. Walking down the ramp, she could hear weapons fire in the distance. Shaking her head she saw General Landry, Giles ad some of the other soldiers helping General Hammond to the wall of the building where he leaned with his back. To it, as did the other soldiers. However, it was Riley who first noticed the newest arrival who was standing next to Buffy.

"Dawn?" said Riley as he zipped towards her and gave the young woman a hug.

"Hi, Riley" said Dawn who looked over her shoulder at Willow who was walking towards her while eating a protein bar she took out from her vest.

"Willow" said Dawn as she pulled back from Riley and walked towards the redhead who was in a short-sleeve black t-shirt with a grey vest covering it and black BDU trousers.

"Hi, Dawnie" said Willow as she hugged the brunette, "or should I say Hera?"

Dawn laughed as she pulled back and took Willow's hand in hers and then walked towards Buffy and the others.

"Everything this Willow told you was the truth" said Dawn who sensed that they had some breathing room when suddenly the console inside Willow's Jumper beeped. Willow and Dawn asked them to hold on before the both of them headed to the Jumper, and they were soon followed by Buffy, General Landry and Giles who were surprised at the inside of the Jumper, especially when Willow put her hands on the console and a holographic HUD popped up.

"Sweet" said Buffy.

"Indeed" replied Giles as a video of a pilot appeared.

"Athena" said the pilot who was a part of the Blue team, "we have used all our drones to atomise the body of one of those large creatures, and we have severely injured the other two… we managed to destroy parts of their body… but with the other ships are required to battle these dragons…."

"Return to base" said Willow, "extend your shields once you get here and…"

"You don't understand Athena" said the Pilot, "the other two may be badly injured, but they are still running to your location."

"Understood" said Willow, "get back immediately."

"Major" said Colonel Carter who listened in to that conversation while she was being chased by one of the larger dragons, "let me take care of this guy after me and then…."

"No time, Ma'am" said Willow, "use your drones against those dragons sparingly… and that goes for the other Gateships in the air. Use the drones as bombs… pierce the dragon through the softer part of their body to preserve the drone's energy, and then once inside.. blow it up. Major, once you've blown yours up, please scan the area where you'll see an explosion for my life sign. I may need a pick up."

"Major?" said the Colonel, and the General Landry together.

"Trust me" said Willow as she looked at the Colonel who nodded her head as the five ships of the Blue Team landed around the base and extended their shields, reinforcing the shields that were already there as more demons gathered outside the shields which flared as they began pounding on it. Willow told them that the two remaining of the original Three had to be taken down, that with physical bodies, they could be killed, or badly injured enough that they would never be able to move. And then she could ask the Asgard to take care of them.

"How?" asked Giles.

"I was thinking using a force of nature itself" said Willow as she looked at Giles, and then at Dawn.

"No way" said Dawn excitedly, "the super massive black hole in the center of the galaxy?"

"If Thor says his ship can't make it" said Willow, "then any old black hole with do, don't you think?"

"Something they'll never be able to escape" said Giles as Willow nodded her head.

"But I need to take these guys now" said Willow before turning to teh other who were in her ship, "everyone out."

"But" said Buffy, "you said you don't have any more weapons."

"Trust me" said Willow, "I got this. Dawnie?"

Dawn looked at the green crystal on Willow's chest, and then at the Atanik armband she was wearing and nodded her head. Dawn told everyone to leave the ship; that Willow knew exactly what she was doing.

"We don't have time, move" said Dawn as she looked at the others and then at Buffy, "we need to help the others. Faith is taking care of one section and… that's weird.. we're still missing one… oh.. she's coming."

"Faith?" asked Riley and Buffy as Dawn smiled.

"I'll tell you guys after this thing's done?"

Dawn and the others then rushed out before the ramp slowly rose up. Just before it closed, Dawn looked back at Willow as she sat down on the pilot's seat as a HUD popped up with two words flashing in Ancient, 'Overload Commencing.'

'Be careful' thought Dawn to herself as she watched the ship take off and then head towards the remaining members of the Three who were coming towards them.

Willow took off in the Puddle Jumpers and flew towards the severely injured Wolf, and the Hart. She sped towards them at full speed as a visual meter on the HUD showed that the overload was at thirty percent. Willow got closer to them and saw that they were bleeding black blood and both of the eight foot demons had lost an arm, and several parts of their body. Willow buzzed them at high speed as they tried to swat her away. At the same time, she looked at her HUD which showed that she was nearing eighty percent overload, and would be at critical mass in a few seconds.

"Tata" said Willow as she flew towards the base for a few seconds before coming about. She then set the autopilot while she accelerated towards the two demons who were running towards her. She was buzzing over the mass of demons as the two of the Three that were still living rushed her. Willow then pressed a button that ejected the rear door before she let go of the controls as the ship continued to fly on automatic pilot. The redhead then ran out towards the rear exit as the console started to beep, indicating that the ship was about to explode. She could feel the sheep slowly descending as she ran and just jumped out of the ship while it was still in the air, her personal shield flared green due to the massive explosion behind her. That was soon followed by the screams of various demons and the two eight feet tall demons. Willow felt the shockwave hit her as she rammed through one demon after another, her body protected by the personal force-field she was wearing.

Back at the base, Buffy and the others saw the explosion as Dawn took a step forward and smiled.

"Willow's alright" said Dawn as she looked over at Buffy, "she was wearing a personal force-field. She's safe, she'll use the Atanik armbands to protect herself, while we prepare for another wave."

The others then looked at the demons as they stopped at the shield while snarled at the people on the inside. They could see the mass of demons outside the shield growing and pounding on the shield as they heard a scream from the sky as two ships shot three drones into the heads of two three headed dragons whose streams of fire the pilots were avoiding. Dawn, Buffy and some of the others who weren't fighting watched as the drones entered the dragons' heads, and then the heads exploded before the bodies just fell onto the ground, crushing some of the demons. However, Buffy knew that while they could keep on fighting, they weren't making that much of a dent in the demon army.

"Buff" said Dawn as she walked back to her sister, "I know what you're thinking."

"You do?" asked Buffy.

"I descended with all the powers, and the physical body of a near ascended Ancient" said Dawn, "it's the same as the military Willow. So I know what you're thinking cause of my telepathy."

"And telekinesis?" asked Giles as Dawn nodded, "energy projection?"

"Yep" said Dawn nodding her head before they heard a few screams, followed by the sound of cracks in the distance. Turning towards the sounds, they saw Liam, John and Jane finish off some demons before they headed towards Buffy and the others. At the far end of the base, Buffy saw six Slayers and four soldiers being led in killing some of the demons that remained in the base after the shields were put up by a dark haired figure who was wearing a blue jacket.

"Faith" said Buffy as she ran towards the Slayer who had died protecting some of the new Slayers, the one who sacrificed herself so that they could live. She saw Faith fire off an energy blast before turning around and swinging her bloodied sword at another demon, gutting it, "Faith!"

"Hey, B" said Faith as she turned around and mentally twisted the head of another demon that tried to attack her from the back. The dark haired Slayer stepped back as Buffy ran and hugged her tightly, "miss me?"

"You're alive" said Buffy as she pulled back before taking the sword from Faith, and while looking at the second longest serving Slayer, threw the sword towards a demon that was attacking one of the newer potentials who were now being led by Violet.

"Tell you the whole story later, B" said Faith, "gotta thank Lil'D and her mom for doing what she did."

"Her mom?"

"You'll meet her one day, she's a nice lady."

It was then that the ground started to shake again.

Willow felt the ground shake as she slowly got back up on her feet after having been thrown through various demons because of the massive explosion from the Puddle Jumper's reactor overloading. She looked back behind her and sped off to a small crater where she found the scattered remains of hundred of demons. She was about to turn back to the base when she heard laughter behind her. Turning around again, Willow saw two torso's without arms and legs lying on the ground. She then saw the heads turn and look at her.

"You believe you have defeated us" said both of them together as the rest of the puddle jumpers returned to the base after expending all their drones. Willow looked up at the ten dragons that were still flying about. And then she head even more screams from the sky as twelve more large dragons entered the battle zone. Frowning, Willow then looked back down at the two torso's, "you believe that you will emerge victorious against us… against the First. You have run out of weapons…. The most you have been able to kill is thousands, out of over forty thousand of our kind in this place alone. There are hundreds of thousands more of our kind in the world, and we will kill all of you... this world will be ours. The Human race is finished."

"No" said Willow as hundreds of demons surrounded the redhead, "this isn't your world. This is mine… this is the home of my ancestors… the home of the decedents of two of the greatest races this galaxy has ever seen. Not yours, and we will take it back by force."

"You have lost" said the two large demons.

"I am human" said Willow, "and I am Lantean… the technology of my people took you down. And rest assured the others will join you."

"You have no hope" said the First as she appeared at the edge of the crater in front of Willow who zipped back a few steps. At the same time she felt a small gust of wind from above her; glancing upwards, Willow knew that it was the Colonel in a cloaked Jumper who was waiting to rescue her. Willow knew that rescue would be difficult, especially since she was surrounded by demons… and she was facing the First Evil.

"Colonel Carter" shouted Willow as she looked up, "meet me right outside the main entrance to the base… pick me up from there."

Willow then looked back at the First and grinned.

"Hope's coming" said Willow as she ran at super-speed the other way towards the base, but not before heading to a demon that was wielding an axe. From her perspective, Willow saw that everyone was standing still as she took the axe, and killed one demon after another as she ran in a circle before she took off towards the base; all the while leave a trail of hundreds of dead demons in her wake.

"Hope" said the First as it saw Willow head to the base, "there is no hope."

Willow ran towards the main entrance where there were a baying crowd of demons that were hitting the reinforced shielding. The redhead killed hundreds of them at super speed, enough for the Colonel's jumper to land, and then run inside before collapsing on the floor of the Jumper after having dropped the bloody axe while the ship took off again.

"Major!" said the Colonel as she looked back while she headed into the base past the shields which were configured to allow only the Jumpers to fly through. She then landed the ship while Willow reached into her vest with shaking hands. She took out a protein bar, but her hands were shaking so much because of her exertion that she couldn't open the wrapper.

"Willow!" shouted Dawn as she was the first to run into the ship after the ramp was opened. The brunette saw the blonde officer jump off her seat, take the wrapper, open it and then break off a piece and bring it to Willow's mouth for her to eat. However, the shield was now preventing her from eating anything. Dawn kneeled next to Willow as the Colonel tried again while the two General's, Buffy, Liam, and Faith were watching the green shield come around Willow's mouth while her arms were shaking. Dawn then placed a hand gently on Willow who was now panting due to the extreme exertion outside the shield, and due to not having been continuously eating as Colonel Carter and the others were doing, "Willow, I need you to relax. You're no longer in danger… you're safe."

"I.. I know" said a panting Willow as she looked at Dawn, "one… one sec."

It was a few seconds later that Willow got control of her breathing and she mentally took control of the shield as it opened around her mouth. The Colonel gave a piece of the bar to the redhead who chewed it. It was then that they heard loud screams in the distance. While the others rushed out of the Jumper, the Colonel helped Willow off the floor of the Jumper and then helped her sit on one of the seats while opening another bar for her. Meanwhile, everyone outside the Jumper saw nearly twenty demons being thrown to the ground away from the other Willow's quarters one after another, followed by shouting from a familiar voice.

"You stay away from my fiancée!" shouted a young woman with short blonde hair as Dawn, and Faith smiled.. while Buffy, and Giles looked on slacked jawed while she continued to scream at the demons while breaking their necks one by one using telekinesis "I wish you were all Bringers! I have a bone to pick with them since they killed me! ME! From behind! Cowards! Bastards! And since they're not here, then you lot will do!".

Buffy and the others saw the last demon fall before Anya turned around and headed the way the demons came from. She was then seen with Xander, who had his arm around her shoulder and heading towards them.

They then heard from Soledad, one of the Slayers who used to live with Buffy, over the radio that the soldiers protecting Willow's quarters were killed by those demons… and Xander was already exhausted due to not having eaten to fuel his metabolism.

"We've killed our demons" she said over the radio, "we'll be here protecting Willow… Xander needs food fast and… well, I think Anya just came back from the dead."

"Yeah" said Buffy as she looked at Xander, who was looking at Anya with shock in his one eye. He was even more shocked when he saw the brunette that was running towards him.

"Xander!" shouted Dawn as she gave him a hug.

"Hey, xan-man" said faith as she gave him a little wave.

"Da… Dawn? Faith?" said Xander surprised, "Ho.. how?"

"Explanations later" said Anya as she sat him down against a wall while they started to receive reports from the Slayers and the soldiers on base that the demons that invaded the base earlier were dead, "you eat, save your strength… cause I'm telling you that once this nonsense with the ending of the world is over and done with, we are having some crazy monkey sex."

"Ok" said Buffy as she put her hands up and headed back inside the puddle jumper to help Willow, "Anya's definitely back."

"Yes" said Giles as he, and then Liam looked nervously around and walked away, as did the others. As Liam was walking away, he saw Buffy, and then Dawn sit next to Willow while the Colonel opened another bar and helped the redhead eat before she finally gained control of her shaking hand and could eat for herself. Liam wanted to talk to Buffy but he decided to wait until the battle was over. In the meantime, he looked at the smile on the blonde's face as she talked to her sister, and to Willow. He looked at her smile, and her shoulder length hair that curled at her shoulders before he walked to where General Landry was talking to General Hammond when a few of the Lantean pilots walked towards them.

"Greetings, I am Karas" said one of the pilots as he looked at General Hammond, General Landry and Liam as Faith walked over to them.

"I am General Landry, and this is General Hammond… we're in command of this base."

"Karas" said Willow while Colonel Carter and Buffy helped Willow walked out of the Puddle Jumper, and were soon followed by Dawn.

"Athena" said Karas before he noticed the other familiar face next to her, "Hera?"

"Hi" said Dawn as she nodded her head.

"Shield strength?" asked Willow.

"As you know, Athena" said Karas, "the shields were never meant to be activated for this long, we are draining the reactor core off power."

"I know" said Willow.

"It's supposed to be a stop gap until Atlantis gets here" said Dawn as she looked at Willow's confused looked, "I was there when you talked to Thor… and even saw… you know…"

"Oh" said Willow nodding at Dawn before she turned towards Karas, "how long do we have before the shield gives out?"

"Eight minutes" said Karas, "then the shields shield will fail."

"And Atlantis gets here in ten minutes" said Willow as Karas nodded his head.

"We better hope that our Willow does her stuff before then" said Buffy.

 **Unknown Location, a few minutes later.**

Willow had no idea how long she had been walking down the tunnel. She entered the cave what seemed only hours ago, and she was still walking in the darkness. She could feel the wetness on the walls, and smell the stale air with carried a hint of decayed flesh.

'The bodies of the clones' thought Willow to herself, 'but I never walked this deep before, I remember so clearly that it was never this deep.'

Willow then leaned her back on the cave wall and closed her eyes, before taking a deep breath.

'What's going on?'

"You're afraid of seeing her" said a familiar voice as Willow snapped her eyes wide, as tears almost immediately formed when she laid her eyes on the owner of that voice. A voice that she thought she would never hear again.

"Ta... Tara?" said Willow as she walked towards the image of Tara surrounded by blue light, "no... you.. you're a figment of my imagination."

"Can a figment do this?" asked Tara as she reached for, and then held Willow's hands in hers.

"Technically" said Willow as Tara smirked, "yea, you can if I'm imagining all this."

"Well, you know about ascension?"

"Uh uh" said Willow when she finally made the connection and nodded her head, "The Powers."

"They ascended me" said Tara, "I watched everything that happened,, including what happened to Kennedy. I'm so sorry, Willow."

"I... I... I can mourn her after we're done" said Willow as she looked into the darkness, and then back at Tara who was glowing blue, "I thought there was no interference by the Powers. I know that the Others wont.."

"Seems some don't agree" said Tara smiling, "Dawn, Anya and Faith have descended."

Willow could only smile as she thought about Dawn, and her memories of who she really was thousands of years ago. She then smiled on hearing that Anya and Faith returned, and she made a mental note to get to apologize to them for how she had treated them over the years.

'But first" thought Willow to herself, 'I need to go through this darkness.'

"I.. I can walk with you" said Tara as Willow looked back at the blonde witch, "I.. I mean if you'd rather go alone, then you need to know that you have nothing to be sorry for with Sineya. I know the truth about what happened, the Powers have records of everything. They.. They wanted the one who would become the First Slayer to be willing. The... the truth is that there were ten girls born under that falling star, and... and those Shadow Men..."

"Furlings" said Willow.

"Furlings" nodded Tara, "they focussed on the first girl they came across, which happened to be Sineya. They could've gone to any of the other girls... but they ignored that part of the prophesy that spoke of ten candidates. They didn't want to search for the others, so they fixated on Sineya."

"They took away someone I loved, Tara" said Willow as she walked towards Tara, "they took her away, then used me to power the demon. I was there when they forced that thing inside her... and that was my fault. I trusted the Furlings, and she paid the price. I should have taken her away through the Stargate... away from the Shadow Men, away from her grandmother. Her death is on me, and yes... I know that I need to look to the future, and I am.. I did.. I mean I will look to the future. But she's going to be in my mind now, and I know it's my fault that... that she s taken. It's my fault that I went all dark and killed Warren, it's my fault that you died, it's my fault that Kennedy died, it's my fault..."

"Willow" said Tara as she caressed the redhead's cheeks, and wiped the tears that were falling on them, "what happened, happened. My death is not your fault."

"It's my fault because I introduced you to the life that Buffy, Xander, Giles and I had" said Willow as she looked at Tara, "if I hadn't introduced you to them... if I had kept you away from that part of my life then you would be alive right now. That was the biggest mistake I made, as Willow... I... then I... the things I did to you. Oh God, Tara.. I changed your memories, I... I even raped you... Oh no.. what.. what did I do..."

"Willow" said Tara as she put her hands on the hysterical redhead's shoulders, "I saw what happened. I saw you learning to respect and control your magic because of what happened after I died. Yes, it sucked... but you were strong enough to move on with Xander's help.. with the help of your friends. I was by your side, willing for you to succeed... to move on. And you did, you found Kennedy, and..."

"But I never loved her as much as I loved you" said Willow as she cried, "I... I... was alone and... she was pushing me into a relationship and.. and I wanted to be with someone. Tara, I wanted to be with anyone.. and.. and instead of pushing her away, I started a relationship with her because I didn't want to be alone. What kind of a person does that make me?"

"Human" said Tara as Willow wiped her tears and looked at the blonde, "you're human, Willow."

"Forgive me, Kennedy" said Willow as she looked back into the darkness in front of her and then back at Tara, "forgive me.. I did so many bad things to you that... that I'm surprised you came back to me. And..."

"I forgive you" said Tara as she tightened her hold on the redhead's hands, and then looked back at the darkness before them, and then at Willow again, "but you have to go on. You need to talk to Sineya."

"Will you come with me?" asked Willow as she looked at Tara as the blue light around her faded, and she stood in the same clothes she had on the day she died.

"I'm already here" said Tara, "I'm standing with you, in your room."

"Thank you" said Willow as she looked at Tara, "Thank you."

TBC.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Odyssey, Prime Reality.**

Faith was on the bridge of the Odyssey as she looked out into space. The ship was docked with Prometheus Station as railgun ammunition, and missiles, were being loaded onto the ship.

It was preparing to go on one insane rescue mission.

It was only hours ago that the dark haired Slayer had woken up in the BPRI, and told all those present.. including Tara, what Willow had told her in regards to the situation in the alternate reality. Tara shook her head and told Faith that it wasn't possible, that what she was talking about was a scenario that the BPRI had already gone through internally; an apocalypse level event.

"But it's just a theory" said Tara in shock as she stood next to Faith who was sitting up on the bed in the infirmary while surrounded by SG-1, General Landry, and General O'Neill who came out of concern for Willow and Faith's wellbeing. All of them now looked at Tara whose hands were shaking so much that Vala quickly brought a chair and gently helped the witch sit down. Tara then leaned forward and put her hands onto her face with her elbows on her knees as she started to tell them that they had already thought of a scenario of what would happen in the event that all the Hellmouths were to be activated at the same time, "not only by the First, but by anyone crazy enough to do it. We're looking at near total extinction, we've already accounted for the Stargate… for the ships…. Angel and Cordelia were going to give you guys a copy of a workable plan once.. once it was done… but…."

"Red said that billions died" said Faith as she looked at everyone looking back at her in shock.

"Goddess" said Tara as she rubbed the side of her face before rubbing her forehead in disbelief, "our worst case scenario is happening over there."

"Miss Maclay" said General Landry, "what are we looking at here?"

"Demons of all kinds, vampires, dragons, orcs… name it, they're all going to be coming out of the woodwork" said Tara, "Willow said that the Sunnydale Hellmouth is the oldest, and so the most powerful. That will be what the forces of hell will use to occupy the Earth. They're gone…. Done for."

"Red said that the Asgard would be helping" said Faith, "I mean, they were at the High Council chambers. But they told Red it'll take three days."

"Will they be able to help immediately?" asked Tara.

"She didn't say" replied Faith.

"But if I were Major Rosenberg" said Vala as she stood next to Colonel Mitchell before hopping onto the bed to sit next to Faith, "I'd at least head to Atlantis."

"If Atlantis has not been flooded" said Teal'c, "but it is likely that she will not have any ZPM's to power the city."

"Unless" said Colonel Mitchell as he lifted a finger into the air, "she asks the Asgard for help in stealing some ZPM's."

"The Replicators" said Colonel Carter as she snapped her fingers at the Colonel who grinned, "Faith, did Willow say when the attack's going to be launched?"

"She didn't" replied Faith.

"I'd hit fast, and hard" said General O'Neill, "if it was me."

"Hold on" said Tara as she looked at everyone present, "you're thinking that you could get there…. Other than the way I just helped Faith, I can't think of any other way. I mean… well, unless you decide to punch a hole into reality and then fly a ship through, but that has downsides.."

"Like?" asked Vala.

"Destruction of both realities" said Tara with an eyebrow raised, "it's… it's… I mean… even if we could, the magic it'd take is beyond anyone here."

"How about magic and science?" asked Daniel, "if everyone's thinking the same thing… you know sending a ship there to retrieve Willow, and to help the people in that reality… then maybe we need to think outside the box? And I mean way outside the box. Ask the Asgard and the Nox. I'm sure they'd already be familiar with the mystical elements of the galaxy and… well, they like Tara."

"It would be nice to talk to Lya again" said Tara with a small smile, "but… but to do that, I'd need Faith to come with me. They need to know exactly what we're asking them to do, and since the Nox taught Willow how to create the link between her and Willow, then they'll need to know about her link."

"I did see the Nox there too" said Faith, "one of them was standing next to Red, asked her if she shared the link with me."

"Then that's what we do. We'll ask both the Asgard and the Nox for help" said General Landry, "Miss Maclay, General O'Neill and I'll go up and talk to Angel and Miss Chase about this plan. In the meantime.. I'd like for you to make your preparations."

"I'll need to go too, sir" said Colonel Carter, "if there's technology involved, then I'd need to be there to make sure I know how to use it."

"Go" said General Landry.

It had taken some time, but it was six hours later that the Nox and some Asgard, using technology that Colonel Carter, Tara, and Faith were not allowed to see, gave the Earth personnel a crystal that was meant to be inserted in the Odyssey's Hyperdrive control panel. They told the Colonel that it would be enough for a return trip, and that it was tuned to Faith's link. The Nox had described what was going to happen while walking with them on the way to the Stargate on Gaia, it was then that Faith and Tara's eyes glassed over, while Colonel Carter listened on excitedly.

It had been two hours later, almost eight hours total since the time Faith had seen Willow in the other reality, that the specifically created Hyperdrive control crystal was placed carefully into the Hyperdrive control panel. The Colonel had briefed Colonel Emerson on what was going to happen, even Tara briefed him on what they could be facing in the other reality. Colonel Emerson was told by General Landry that the Odyssey's primary mission was to ensure Willow was alive, and it's secondary mission was to help in the defence of the planet until, or if, Asgard forces arrived.

"And if they don't, Sir?" asked Colonel Emerson.

"If the odds are overwhelmingly against you, and your team" said General Landry who was now speaking to Colonel Emerson from the SGC, "orders from Home World are that the President be safe. Before that, you are to lock on to the Stargate in Antarctica and transport it to the holding bay, then attach a naquada generator and a dialling computer to the Gate. Given that we don't know if the personnel going with you will have doubles in the other reality, so we want you and your people to return in twenty four hours. If in twelve hours there is no sign of the Asgard, then you are to beam up as many military and civilians as possible, and then Gate them to a safe world."

"I'm sure Red's been to Edina" said Faith, "at least that's what I'd do."

"Take a MALP along for the ride" said the General, "Ground teams will be decked out in the full backward engineered Kull armour, including the reengineered plasma repeaters."

Faith recalled the details the General was talking about while she stood in her armour while looking out into space. Soon, Faith hard familiar voices coming down the hallway, and into the bridge.

It was then that Faith turned around and smiled at Colonel Carter, and the rest of SG-1, and SG-14… all of whom were wearing the Kull Armour; all except for Colonel Mitchell, and two others from SG-14 who would be among the sixteen pilots flying the F-302's.

"Attention" said Colonel Emerson as he took his seat at the command chair and pressed a button that connected him to the entire ship, "this is Colonel Emerson. You've all been briefed on the mission. Retrieve Major Rosenberg as soon as possible, and then we'll be helping the people on the surface. The Nox and Asgard have helped us in providing a control crystal that will open a window to a different area of subspace, the same area of subspace that a quantum mirror accesses when sending one individual from one reality to another. Our travel time is estimated to take about ten minutes, relatively speaking. To an outsider, it will be as if we've gone in one end of the portal, and out the other instantly. As for the current situation on the planet in the other reality? We do not know how bad it really is until we get there. In either case, I want all stations ready for battle. Arm all missiles, get the railguns online, charge up the Ancient weapons systems… get me a system wide countdown."

"Sir" said Colonel Carter as Colonel Emerson looked at her, "if we're going to be fighting in the atmosphere, you should know that our shields won't be as effective as when we're in space. I'm looking at it being sixty to seventy percent."

"Understood" said Colonel Emerson nodding his head at the blonde officer.

It was a few minutes later that all areas of the ship had checked in before Colonel Emerson ordered that the mooring clamps from Prometheus Station be released. As the Odyssey's port side RCS thrusters fired, the ship moved until it was clear from the Prometheus.

"Odyssey" said Colonel Pendergast, the commander of the Prometheus Station, "good luck."

"Leave the lights on for us, Colonel" said Colonel Emerson before he turned to Major Womack.

"Major Womack" said Colonel Emerson, "take us out, and engage the Hyperdrive."

"Technically, reality drive" said Faith as she shrugged her shoulders before looking at Colonel Carter and Mitchell, "just sayin'"

"Engaging Reality Drive" smiled Womack as she pressed a button.

The ship sped up as a pink hued hyperspace-like window opened, and the ship went through before the window closed behind them.

 **Location Unknown, Alternate Reality.**

Willow was holding on to Tara's hand while smiling after she found out that Tara was in her quarters with her physical body. Just knowing that piece of information put the redhead in a state of peace as she closed her eyes before thanking her again.

"I've been watching you" said Tara as Willow opened her eyes, "I… I… saw what happened with Warren, I saw what almost happened after that."

"I killed Warren, I can't do nothing about that now. I know I tried to destroy the world in my anger and grief, and I know that it was Xander who stopped me… and I can't forget that."

"You shouldn't" said Tara as she caressed the redhead's cheek.

"I know" replied the redhead, "I know that the magic's a part of who I am, it's a part of me. Just like my memories as Athena… Oma said that I needed to let go of the weight of what happened, that I couldn't ascend if all of that was on my shoulders."

"The Powers have a similar rule" said Tara as she looked down at Willow's hands, "I had to let you go. They couldn't do anything to revive me since it was a natural death, so I… I had no choice but to let the idea of being with you go so that they could take my soul. But I still remembered you, and I was so happy that you were starting to live your life."

"I couldn't forget what I did" said Willow as she stepped closer to Tara, "I couldn't forget what I did, and tried to do, in Atlantis, or with the clones back on Earth… Sineya, Warren, almost destroying the world… I couldn't forget them. But I could accept what I did, and then move on slowly."

"You were a real goddess" said Tara with a smile as Willow closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I was never a goddess, Tara" replied Willow as Tara bought her other hand to Willow's other cheek, "that was my name, people gave up their free will by praying to my name. I don't remember my ascension, but I know enough about the transfer of power when lower beings give up their free will to ascended beings."

"That's what I wanted to hear" said Tara as she kissed Willow's forehead.

"When Kennedy called me a goddess after I shared Buffy's power with the other Slayers, I never corrected her" said Willow, "I... I liked it. It made me feel special. And now.. and now she's dead and... and I can never see her again."

"I'm sorry, Willow" said Tara as she hugged the redhead as a cold breezed went by the two women.

It was then that the darkness around them started to swirl around before the two witches found themselves in a great chamber. Willow and Tara let go of each other and looked around, the redhead recognizing where she was.

"This is the place" said Willow as she looked at the center of the room at the chains that were attached to manacles lying on the floor of the cavern. Willow then looked at an area behind Tara, who turned around and looked at the chains coming off the wall, and then she looked back at Willow with confusion on her face, "that's where they chained me."

Tara looked on as Willow then turned to look at the center of the cavern and pointed to the place where the Furlings had chained Sineya to the Earth all those years ago.

"They wanted me to see the weapon I helped them create" said Willow as she looked back at Tara who walked towards the redhead, "the demon took everything the clones had, and then forced itself into Sineya. I remember her screams before this place fell apart all around us."

"She saved you" said Tara as she gently held on to Willow's arm.

"Yeah" said Willow as she looked at the center of the cavern, and at the symbols drawn on the floor, "the Furlings ran away.. cowards. After she saved me, I was exiled from Earth, but I made her two scythes before I left for Kheb."

"Kheb?"

"Where I was trained by Oma" said Willow as she looked at Tara, and then at the symbols again, "then I had a dream she was dying. I came back to Earth and.. and I held her as she died. She told me she didn't want to ascend because…. Because she wanted to help her successors, the Chosen. She died to created the Slayer lines… mystical energy that's combined with the power the demon took from the clones as it travelled through the Earth, using the planet itself as a source of power. The First said it wanted to get rid of the line of Slayers, to totally destroy it. But it can't, because to destroy the line…"

"You destroy the planet" said Tara, "you have to blow it up."

"Even with the dark energy coming off the Hellmouths" said Willow, "the Earth will remain; even while its poisoned and even if hell takes over the planet, the Earth still exists and as long as the Earth exists, the Slayers would be forever."

"Yes" said a familiar voice as Willow and Tara looked at the source, and the redhead smiled at the ten year old girl who was standing in the center of the cavern, holding her hands behind her back.

"Tara" said Willow as she turned to the blonde, and then gasped in surprise; Tara wasn't there anymore.

"I am sorry, mother" said Sineya as she walked towards the redhead, "she is back in the real world, I thought you would like to talk to me in private."

"Yes" replied Willow as she walked towards the young girl and got on both knees in front of her. Willow then put both hands on the girl's cheeks before smiling, "look at you, still as beautiful as ever."

"I am sorry" said Sineya as she looked at Willow, "the last you tried to access the powers of the Slayer, you were…. Were not who I knew you to be. It had to be prevented."

"You mean the unification spell?" asked Willow as Sineya nodded her head.

"Yes" she replied, "and now, you have shared the power of one of the Slayers…"

"Buffy" said Willow.

"You have shared her power with the rest of the Potentials" said Sineya, "it is not the true power of a Slayer."

"I know" the redhead said, "which is why I'm here to ask for help."

"What you ask can be done" said Sineya, "but there is a cost."

'Which is?"

"The power of the Slayer lines will be strained for generations" replied Sineya, "the power will cleanse the Earth, but will not return the dead to life… but life will flow once again. The strain put on the power of the Slayer to activate the potentials will mean that there will be no Slayer's called for many, many years."

"The military can help with demons in the meantime" said Willow, "I think so would the Asgard. But.. but will you still be here?"

"Yes" replied Sineya, "I will always be here. I watched you ascend, Athena… that was the proudest day of my life on this world."

"I love you, Sineya" said Willow before she kissed the little girl's cheeks and then looked into her eyes, eyes that became harder as the little girl transformed to the First Slayer who died ten thousand years ago.

"It is time, mother" said the grown Sineya as Willow stood up with her while they both held each other's hands. Willow nodded her head before closing her eyes as she slowly rose into the air. Then Sineya let go off the redhead's hands as she slowly became blue light that was swirling around the witch like a vortex. The cavern started trembling as the light spun faster and faster around the witch when it suddenly entered Willow's chest, which was when her eyes opened wide to reveal white pupils. Willow then arched her back and screamed as blue light erupted from the Earth itself, and went into Willow, using her as a focal point for the Slayer lines.

 **Sunnydale Army base, Eight minutes later.**

They were ready for war.

Slayers, military personnel, Lanteans, and civilians; they were all ready for the fight of their lives that, if won, had the potential to change the tide of war. It would mean that the human race had a chance to take back their world.

But they needed to fight until the Asgard, and Atlantis, got to earth.

With the shield almost depleted of power, Willow and the rest of the military had placed heavy weapons on the roofs of some of the buildings so that they could have a good vantage point when firing at the mass of demons that were pushing against the weakening shield. Willow had asked that the Jumpers that weren't being used for the shield, protect the people that would be firing the heavy weapons on the four roofs; the hope was that since each shield would be covering a much smaller area, it would be more powerful and would last longer.

Four rooftops shielded and the heavy weapons manned by the two Generals, a few of the Lanteans, a few of the military personnel who didn't have the Atanik armbands, and even Giles. In the mean time, Major Willow was holding to an axe while her personal force field was active, and the Atanik armband still on her arm. Buffy, Colonel Carter, Dawn and a few others were with her, in fact, there were Slayers combined with anyone who had an armband.. along with normal military personal grouped together all around the base.

Willow looked at Buffy, and then at Dawn who was getting ready to attack. She looked at the one who was her sister, and then smiled before looking at the horde of demons.

"Willow" said Dawn as the redhead looked back at her.

"Does your Dawn know about… you know."

"I told her" said Willow as she looked at the demons again, "but she didn't… what the…."

Everyone, including the demons outside the shield, fell onto the ground as the Earth shook.

"What the heck?" said Buffy as she tried to get up but fell back onto the ground, hitting Willow, with the both of them toppling over. Colonel Carter, who was trying to keep her own balance after getting up, then helped both Willow and Buffy stand while the Blonde Slayer looked at the alternate version of her best friend, 'Will?"

"It's not me, I…."

"Oh God" said Violet, who Xander was standing close to with Anya at another area of the base, once the shaking stopped before she stumbled back onto the ground and got on all fours as she panted, "I.. I'm losing my.. my strength."

"Vi" said Xander as he went to Violet and then noticed the other Slayers were the same way. All of them were stumbling forwards as if they were suddenly tired.

"Buffy" said Violet on her radio while she panted, "something… something's wrong.. lo… losing power."

Buffy then got calls over her radio from all of her Slayers saying that they were feeling weakened; that it was like someone turned off a switch. It was then that Buffy dropped the sword she was holding and stumbled back as her eyes flashed white.

"Buffy!" shouted Dawn as she went to catch her sister, "what's…"

"I… I feel stronger" said Buffy as she made her hands into fists after balancing herself on Dawn, "Dawnie… I.. I feel stronger."

"B" said Faith into her radio, who was at another side of the base being helped up by a Sergeant, "B, I don't know bout you, but I feel kinda stronger."

"I think both of our powers were shared with the others" said Buffy on her radio.

There was then a crashing sound as the now former Slayers protecting Willow's quarters were thrown aside onto the ground by an unseen force.

'Hey!" shouted Xander who zipped towards them just as a small explosion ripped apart the redhead's quarters, the personnel in the Atanik armbands zipped around to make sure that no one was injured by the flying debris. Once everyone was out of the way, the Earth trembled again as a pillar of blue energy shot out from where Willow's quarters used to be. Giles, and the others… even the demons… watched it rise into the sky before it broke off into the cardinal, and ordinal, compass directions. While Giles looked on confused with the two Generals and the Lanteans, Major Willow and Dawn were looking up with familiarity.

"She did it" said Willow as Dawn nodded her head.

"What?" asked Xander as Anya ran to his side, 'who did what?"

"Willow, I mean our Willow" said Dawn looking at Xander as they ran to Willow's quarters, with the one eyed man making it there before them, "she did it."

Everyone then closed their eyes as a brilliant blue flash that seemed to come from the Earth itself shone brightly for seconds. Opening their eyes again, everyone looked on as the formerly weak Slayers were slowly getting onto their feet.

Buffy looked around her as voices came over the radio, the Slayers laughing as they told the oldest living Slayer that they felt stronger as ever before.

"Willow did it" said Buffy over the radio, "I know all Slayers have been reactivated. We don't have my power, or Faith's power, shared between all of us. This is the power of the Slayer. The real power; but we celebrate later. Now we fight, the war isn't over yet. Pick up your weapons, prepare yourselves. Watch each other's backs. Get to your teams, and be ready."

"Got it" said Soledad and various other Slayers who had excitement in their voices.

In the meantime, Buffy ran to where Xander, Dawn and a few others were removing the rubble that used to be Willow's quarters. Major Willow, Dawn, Xander, Riley, Robin, and Anya were picking up the heavy pieces of concrete and then throwing it into the mass of demons outside the shield, killing a few in the process. It was when they removed one more piece that everyone looked in shock at the two women hugging each other under a shield.

"Tara?" said Buffy in surprise.

"Tara!" shouted Dawn as the blonde witch brought down the shield, which she erected to protect herself and Willow, just before the blonde stood up and then stepped back as Dawn hugged her. Riley and Xander helped a panting Willow stand up while she told Buffy that she did it, all Slayers in the world were activated.

"I can feel it" said Willow as she looked at Buffy, "and it's not like the last time… it's… it's different."

"Thanks, Will" said Buffy as she heard screams from above as the dragons started to circle overhead, "the shield's almost gone."

"Buffy" said Willow as she held the Scythe in her hand and an electrical charge went from her arm and through the entire ancient weapon. Buffy watched as the blade turned silver, it's original colour. Willow told Buffy that the nanites on the blade just re-sharpened it, that the weapon was now in its original state.

"Thanks" said Buffy as she took the Scythe, and then looked at a vision of the First Slayer standing in the distance looking at her when the image suddenly vanished. Buffy then looked at her best friend and said, "we'll win."

Willow nodded her head before she looked up and then looked at Major Willow, "ready?"

"Yep" replied Major Willow, "how about you? We need attacking magic, and a bit of defence… up to it?"

"Oh yea" said Willow as she and Tara started to gather magical energy.

"General Hammond, General Landry" said Willow on her radio, "we're ready."

"Activate the shields" said General Hammond as he radioed the Lanteans who parked the four puddle jumpers on the roofs of the four buildings. They then activated the shields that covered the four buildings as the armed personnel aimed their weapons at the mass of demons from the roofs, while some of the personnel were still covered by each of the four new shields raised shoulder mounted surface to air missiles and aimed the weapons at the flying dragons.

"Everyone with the Atanik armbands" said General Landry, "give us some breathing space, you know what to do. The main shield gets down in two minutes; I want all fire teams to fire at the incoming demons… Slayers, hit anything that gets through and hit them hard. All personnel stay close to the shields, if the dragons start attacking, get back under your assigned shield and then go back and fight."

"Everyone with armbands" said Colonel Carter as she looked at Willow, "go."

Major Willow, and all personnel wearing the armbands, then ran into the crowd of demons killing as many as possible while the teams from the roofs opened fire at the demons that were struggling to get in. It was a minutes later that there was an empty space between the demons that were pounding the shield, and the rest of the demons as the armband wearers, their weapons dripping with blood while eating their protein bars glared at the other demons that started chanting in the name of the First.

"Kill 'em" said Major Willow as she and the others started zipping around again. Major Willow had an axe in her hand as she beheaded multiple demons while running around in her sector of the exterior of the base. Sometimes she would dart past Xander who she would high five before killing more demons. It was a few minutes later that the shield failed and demons rushed in. Then half of the armband wearers darted into the base to help the others as planned while the rest tried to put space between the demons that remained, and the ones that were heading into the base. Running at super speed while cutting heads, or eviscerating demons, Major Willow caught glimpses of Liam and his brothers and sister doing what they were created to do.. killing the demons. She saw Buffy slicing demons with the Scythe and was instantly reminded of the day she saw Sineya.. the day she gave her daughter the Scythe before she left the Planet; she then saw Tara and her alternate back to back as they protected some of the soldiers as some of the shields flared when dragons swooped down to spit out fire before flying back up in the air.

Major Willow saw some people who didn't make it back to the shields get burnt to a crisp while rockets were fired at the dragons, having some effect but she knew that more hits were needed to bring them down.

In the meantime, Willow, Colonel Carter and the others did everything they could to beat back the enemy forces.

 **Orbit of Earth, 0720 hours.**

In had been millions of years before Atlantis dropped out of hyperspace over Earth. The legends of a great city that sunk under the ocean was true. It was lying under the ocean of another planet waiting for her people to come home. And now, not only have her people come home, Atlantis itself had come home as well as it orbited the planet below. Dr. Weir was in the Control Room with Commander Helia as they watched the screen at the back of the room. It showed a view of the Earth that made Helia smiled.

"Earth" said the Commander.

"Yes" said Dr. Weir, "I never thought I'd see her again."

"Commander" said one of the technicians as Helia and Dr. Weir looked at him, "we're detecting a mass of life signs, both human and non human."

The view on the screen changed to a close up of the Sunnydale army base where Dr. Weir, Helia and some of the other personnel looked at the mass of demons that surrounded the base.

"My God" said Dr. Weir as dragons were attacking the shields that covered four of the buildings, as well as the personnel on the surface before flying away.

"Prepare for atmospheric entry" said Commander Helia as she nodded at one of the personnel before looking back at Dr. Weir, "I will return to the Tria. We will head to the place you call Area Fifty One, and I will notify your leadership of the situation, and…."

"Commander!" shouted another technician as she looked back at Dr. Weir and Helia, "we're detecting a hyperspace window."

"Asgard?" asked Dr. Weir.

"No" said the technician as he pointed at the screen which changed to a view of empty space which was soon ripped open by a pink hued hyperspace window as a ship sped through.

"Dr. Weir?" asked Commander Helia, "do you recognize that vessel?"

"No" said the diplomat when her eyes went wide upon recognizing the symbol of the Earth gate on the 'neck' section of the ship, "but.. but it's ours."

"Commander" said the technician who told Helia about the Hyperspace window opening, "we're being hailed."

"On screen" said both the Commander and Dr. Weir together as the view on the screen changed to a man in a flight suit surrounded by six people in what looked like black armour.

"This Commander Helia of the Lantean City-Ship, Atlantis. Identify yourself."

"I'm Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship, Odyssey."

"Colonel Carter?" said Dr. Weir as she recognized the blonde woman, "Dr. Jackson? Teal'c?"

"Dr. Weir" said a surprised Colonel Carter, "how…"

"You're from Major Rosenberg's reality?" said Dr. Weir.

"Yea" said Faith before she introduced herself and Vala.

"Good to see you, Elizabeth" said Daniel as tears came to Dr. Weir's eyes, it had been over ten thousand years since she had seen a familiar face, or at least a familiar face who had knowledge about the Stargate.

"Introductions later" said Colonel Emerson as he looked at everyone, and then at the screen again, "Dr. Weir, it really is good to see you. But, our sensors detect a situation and we're here to rescue Major Rosenberg, and help in any way we can."

"Colonel" said Commander Helia, "we welcome it. I will launch the Tria before Atlantis lands on the surface, near what you call the Sunnydale base. Once landed and once we have some breathing room, the city will drop the shields and the Tria will beam in drones from the Southern pole's outpost into Atlantis' drone launchers. The city will then fire while connecting remotely to the outpost in what Major Rosenberg, and Dr. Weir refer to as Death Valley. But after all that, I feel we should speak."

"Once we're done" said Colonel Emerson nodding his head, "let's finish this quick. We have a day.. at most to prevent Entropic Cascade Failure."

"Understood" said Commander Helia as the screen turned off, and changed view to the surface battle.

Back on the Odyssey, Colonel Emerson turned his command chair toward the large viewing window at the forward section of the bridge. Faith told Colonel Emerson and Colonel Carter that she couldn't sense Major Willow yet.

"Her transmitter?" asked Colonel Emerson as he looked at Major Marks who turned back to look at his screen.

"She's… woah… she's moving fast… too fast. I can't get a transport lock."

"Then we go in" said Colonel Emerson as another Captain told him from the scanning station at the rear of the bridge that the Tria had already launched. Colonel Emerson then pressed a button on his chair to open the communications systems to all decks, "attention all hands, battle stations.. battle stations. Launch red and blue wings.. go.. go.. go."

The lights in the bridge of the Odyssey then dimmed as the ship headed for the planet below.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, two minutes later.**

Willow was running past Xander, the both of them killing as many demons as possible when she suddenly stumbled while in super speed and she hit the ground hard, rolling heads over heels. Xander saw what happened and immediately stopped and then zipped towards the redhead who lay on the ground bleeding and unmoving.

"Willow!" shouted Xander as he stood over her before killing the demons that were going in to kill her while she was immobile. Once he created enough space between the demons and her, Xander ran back to Major Willow and kneeled down, "Will… hey, Will."

"She's here" said Major Willow as she slowly opened her eyes and smiled at Xander, "she came."

"Will?" asked Xander as her Atanik armband fell off her arm. It was then that Xander saw the alternate version of his best friend's wounds heal by themselves, "Will, did you use…."

"Not, magic" said Willow softly as she tried to get up while holding onto Xander, "but… but how could she be here… how.. and… oh…"

"Willow?" asked Xander as she told him to run, that she'll be being right back.

"Reinforcements are here."

"Will?" asked Xander as Willow vanished in a flash of white light, "ok… back to killing then…. Come back, Willow."

Xander then went on to killing more of the demons as he got closer, and closer to the army base.

Meanwhile, Liam and Buffy were now fighting back to back while Dawn and Anya were floating in the air, away from the demons below as one fired electrical blasts, and the other one fired white energy blasts. From her vantage point, Dawn could see the other Slayers doing everything they could to fight the demons; she even saw a few Slayers, soldiers and even demons get killed after been burned by dragon fire.

Faith noticed Dawn firing blasts before she stabbed and then gutted a demon while mentally killing a few more that was heading towards her. She then saw a soldier struggling against a few demons while he was bleeding from his side, so the dark haired slayer ran over to the injured man, threw a few demons to the side with her telekinesis while throwing her sword at another one that was coming from behind the man, and then she took his combat knife, turned around and threw it in between the eyes of a blade handed demon.

"Nice" said the soldier as he looked at the Slayer who just saved his life.

"I can read your mind, ya know?" said Faith smirking as she blasted two demons before she back flipped and then ran to the demon she stabbed earlier, and then took her sword from its gut and killed another one before looking back at the soldier and shouting at him, "you know what they say about Slayers, and slaying, right? We get hungry, and horny."

"Lunch?" shouted the soldier before he was taken to the infirmary.

Faith grinned at the soldier before she turned and kicked out at another demon while on another side of the base, soldiers were firing their weapons at the incoming demons while Tara, John, and Jane were helping the Slayers beat back and kill as many demons as possible. On another side, Willow was helping Violet and other Slayers with defending their sector while Robin and a few others were helping out by zipping to and from one demon to another.. killing each one while the fire teams from the roofs of the buildings took out more, and more demons.

To everyone, it seemed like a never-ending supply of demons was coming their way but everyone knew they had to continue the fight.

Buffy was panting as she used the Scythe to cut one demon after another while Liam blocked, and then tore apart demons with his bare hands. The entire base was in chaos with battles taking place all over; the infirmary almost at capacity from injuries to soldiers, while the other soldiers with the armbands protected the infirmary from demonic assault. Buffy then heard a scream from above before she told everyone to get back into the cover of the shield; that a dragon was incoming.

"Buffy!" shouted Dawn who was floating above her as she pointed into the distance where sixteen streaks were falling through the atmosphere.

General Landry watched the streaks as well as they headed towards the base and got closer, and closer. He and General Hammond then looked on as the black dots heading towards them then fired missiles that shot out towards the dragons, which were soon screaming as they got engulfed in naquada enhanced missiles fired from a F-302. The black planes then flew overhead before coming about and picking their own targets. The General, and Giles, saw the planes picking off a few more dragons before they heard another buzzing sound coming from above.

Willow was using her magic offensively against an array of demons when she heard the buzzing sounds as well from behind her, which was when she not only saw three more dragons crashing onto Earth dead, and the planes that shot more missiles; but she also saw the yellow lights that fell out of the sky before hitting the ground and exploding into the mass of demons. And it was then that she, and then Dawn who was at another side of the base, looked up and smiled at the large fireball that was heading towards Earth.

"Buffy!" shouted Dawn as she and Anya continued to fired blasts while landing, "it's Atlantis."

"Neat" said Buffy as the ground started to shake as the demons stopped fighting as well to see a huge snowflake shaped city fall through the atmosphere. Everyone watched with mixtures of surprise, amazement and fear as the city ship fired it's thrusters again before it landed miles away from the base, and the crater where Sunnydale used to be. There were more explosions in the skies as more dragons, including the ones the size of planes, fell to Earth dead before the planes flew around firing their railguns into the mass of demons away from the army base before heading back into the air, and disappeared beyond the white clouds.

The lull in the battle was broken by the screams of the remainder of the dragons, which were soon followed by more roars in the distance as what seemed to be even more of the flying reptiles were heading towards the Sunnydale base, and now Atlantis. Everyone, including the demons who were in shock at what was happening, watched the dragons fly off towards Atlantis before breathing fire at the city, which was protected by the shield. Everyone saw the dragons, including the plane sized three-headed ones, attack the city that dwarfed them; their attacks only to be stopped by the shield.

"Can it hold, Dawnie?" asked Buffy as Dawn landed next to her while she and Anya fired blasts into six of the still shocked demons.

"That shield can hold off a coronal mass ejection" said Dawn looking at Buffy, "so yeah."

"Neat" said Buffy as she spoke into her radio, "Slayers, the demons aren't being very demony…. Let's go Slayery on them again."

While the demons were still in surprised, the Slayers and the other personnel started attacking again. The demons quickly made to go on the defensive before they were shocked again as red energy weapons from a massive ship started attacking the dragons in the distance, while another smaller ship started going the other way, while firing red energy weapons and all of its kinetic weapons, to slaughter the incoming dragons; dragons which were flesh and blood, and had shielding of any kind… even the scales they had were nothing against energy weapons from the two ships which had a three hundred sixty degree range of fire that took down the dragons.

While the fighting was going on in the air, and on the ground, the First appeared in the middle of the battle looking at Atlantis, and then up at the ships, and finally.. she looked at the base in rage.

"No more kid gloves" said the First as it appeared in Tara's form, "this has gone on long enough, no more."

The First closed its eyes as battle raged all around it, and started to chant a spell.

"He's coming" said the First once she finished her chant when she saw Buffy killing more of her children from a distance, "you are mine. The rest… the rest are his."

The First then looked up into the sky, and raised her arms up while closing her eyes… and then it whispered.

"Arise, Leviathan."

TBC.


	13. Chapter 13

**City of New Sunnydale, 0830 hours; The year 2457.**

The sun lit up the blue skies over New Sunnydale as the work day started with residents of the rebuilt city going off to work, or dropping their children off to school. It had been only eighty years earlier following numerous applications by developers to start construction on a brand new city that would be close to the cordoned off Sunnydale Crater, the last site of the Hellmouth that nearly destroyed the world. The crater itself was a tourist attraction but there were no towns between the interstate, of which nearly forty percent had to be rebuilt; made easier by Asgard beam construction technology that rebuilt many parts of the world following the devastation. Over the years, the small town had become larger and larger until it became a mid-sized city, with an Air Force Base located close by.

It was one morning that a red and black car drove up silently to the entrance of the New Sunnydale High school. A short hair blonde girl wearing a red stripped T-shirt and jeans got out from the back seat and looked up at the building while adjusting her backpack. All the while numerous students were running into the school as soon as the bell started to ring.

"Emily" said a dark haired woman with glasses on her face as she turned and leaned in towards the driver side and smiled at the young blonde who was looking around at the building. She then looked at the blonde haired man next to her who was holding on to the steering wheel, and then at the blonde standing outside the car, "remember what I said about…."

"This is just my first day, mum" said Emily rolling her eyes, "I swear I'm not gonna show off my… you know.. the stuff I can do… which I don't know why I can do that stuff cause you guys won't tell me…"

"It's not a bad thing, sweetheart" said the man as he got out of the car, just as the woman did while Emily turned around and looked at a grey haired woman walking towards them, "Principal Rosenberg."

"Gregory Davis Summers as I live and breathe" said the older woman as she held out her hands and hugged the man before whispering into his ear, "it's been too long young man."

"I'm sorry, Aunt Will" said Gregory as he hugged the older woman, "we've been in New York until just a few days ago. The Air Force transferred me to the Sunnydale Air Base. Commander of the latest Carter class ship, the Resolute."

"Congratulations, sweetie" said the woman as she looked at Emily's mother and smiled before hugging her, "hi, Elaine."

"How are you, Willow?" asked Elaine as she pulled back and smiled at the grey haired woman.

"Tired, but you know how it goes.. everyday's a new day" said the woman as Elaine gave Gregory a sad look while the grey haired woman smiled at Emily who looked at the grey haired woman.

"Emily" said Gregory as he gently pushed the girl up to the pavement, "meet my Aunt Willow Rosenberg, the principal of New Sunnydale High."

"Wait, Willow Rosenberg?" asked Emily with her eyes wide open while Gregory and Elaine shared a knowing look, "you mean the…. No… can't be… the Willow Rosenberg in the old stories about the Battle of Sunnydale died. At least she must have died given that was more than four hundred years ago."

"Maybe it's magic" said Willow as she leaned down and opened her eyes wide.

"Nah" said Emily, "no way has that let you stay this young… 'sides, the old stories go that she gave up magic soon after that battle."

"You know your history" said Willow.

"Emily's a history buff" said Elaine as Willow looked at the dark haired woman and smiled, before looking at Emily again.

"Well, I do believe your first class is history" said Willow as she pointed to a young brown haired man who was walking towards them, "Brian… can you take Emily Summers here to class 4-B?"

"Sure" he said as he nodded at Emily who looked at him with her mouth opened wide, "ummm…. hello?"

"Huh?" said Emily as she shook her head and started to babble, "yea… right.. history class.. yeah… can't be late, you know. First day and everything. Don't wanna be the dweeb in class who babbles and great I'm babbling now and when I babble I really babble so please…"

"Emily" said Elaine as she patted her on the back, "calm down."

'Sorry" said the petite blonde as she looked at Brian, "umm.. yeah…. The class?"

"This way" said Brian as he chuckled before leading her down a pathway and into the school itself. Once they were inside, Willow looked at the doors close before she looked at the two parents.

"I'm sorry that you guys got transferred here all of a sudden" said Willow as Elaine shrugged her shoulders, and Gregory smiled when Willow looked at him, "when your dad moved back to Earth with you and settled in Colorado, I started to have dreams. It was just like all those years ago, something's coming to Sunnydale."

"We know the Hellmouth is still giving off energy" said Elaine, "vampires and demons are still drawn here."

"I had a dream where Sineya came to me. She told me that the lines were ready, that a new Slayer would be activated."

"And it's Emily" said Elaine.

"Sineya told me" said Willow looking back at Elaine, "The Summers line so far after Buffy has been all boys… Emily's the first female Summers in over four hundred years. She's the one Sineya chose. After the battle over Sunnydale, I haven't had much time for prophecies or destiny. For Emily now, it's a choice. She's the beginning of a new line of Slayers who, if she agrees, will be given a Watcher from the Guild that Giles reformed three years after the Sunnydale battle. She'll also have training by the military.. and she'll have access to the Slayer and Watchers archives. I've waited a long time.. and I can't keep this form for too long.. maybe another fifty years or so."

"You mean…" said Gregory as a worried Elaine looked at him, and then back at Willow again.

"There's only so long I can use my telekinesis to regenerate my cells" said Willow smiling, "whether Emily agrees to be the Slayer or not, I'll be ascending soon."

"Come to dinner tonight, Aunt Will" said Gregory as Willow smiled at him.

"Please" said Elaine, "we've still got boxes all over the place, but we can order in a mean pizza."

"Ummm… yessss" said Willow, "although I swear to you that if my cardiologist knows I'll be eating pizza, he'll kill me himself."

"We won't tell" said Elaine as Willow giggled. It was a few minutes later that the husband and wife drove off leaving Willow alone in the front lawn. Willow smiled to herself before she turned around when she suddenly stopped and grabbed her chest before breathing hard. Even with her telekinesis and her healing powers going into keeping her young, her overall health had deteriorated over the over four hundred years. She remembered Tara telling her that magic had a limit to how long it could keep Willow young until the new Slayer arrived, so she went to the Asgard and asked them for help. They had been able to not only reverse the disease, thanks to the protein marker from her alternate, Major Willow, that would have rendered them extinct; the Asgard were able to create new bodies that were able to evolve naturally. They had helped Willow create a genetically engineered cloned body similar to what her alternate had… a body that was at a near ascended level. Once they had transferred her consciousness, Willow was able to use her newly gained abilities to slowly keep herself young.

"Tara, Dawn, Xander, Anya… mother ascended them all" thought Willow to herself as she reached inside her pocket and took out a pill box, opened it, and then put a small red pill between her fingers before putting it into her mouth and swallowing it. She then shook her head and straightened up before walking slowly towards the main doors. She walked through, the doors closing automatically behind her, into the hallway that was kept cool thanks to the air-conditioning. She walked past the gym, the assembly hall, the various lockers before heading to the elevator. She then pressed the button for the fourth floor, where she got off and smiled at the blonde who was wearing a cream coloured top and blue jeans.

"Hey" smiled Willow as the blonde looked at her with a smile on her face, "I missed our morning together."

"Sorry, Willow" said the woman as then walked through the hall together, "I was just making some preparations."

"We can go anywhere in the universe" said Willow, "and you wanna stay on Kheb?"

"It's peaceful" said the blonde, "the house is gonna be on a mountain top where the view is just…. You've gotta see it. I'm not telling you anything."

"Bad girl" said Willow smirking.

"Takes one to know one" said the young woman as Willow looked at her in mock shock before she smiled before stopping. She looked through the glass panel into the room, and heard the Asgard teacher inside speaking.

"Now that we have met Miss Emily Summers" said the Asgard whose race, after thousands of years, was finally wearing pants, "we shall continue with our lesson on the Battle over Sunnydale. Please take out your pads and…."

"She looks just like Buffy the day we first met in High School" whispered Willow as she looked at Emily taking out a grey coloured tablet before walking away with the younger blonde by her side, "I promised Buffy that once the last Slayer falls, I'll keep the Scythe with me until a new Slayer is activated. And now that she's here… I'll be with you soon, Tara."

"Sam says hi" said Tara as Willow smiled, "she'll come by soon. Xander and Anya are.. well…. I think they're in… goddess I don't know which galaxy they haven't.. you know… done it in."

"Ewww" said Willow as she looked at Tara before the both of them giggled.

"I'll see you soon, Will" said Tara.

"I love you, Tara."

Tara then vanished as Willow reached a stairwell. Opening the door to walk into the staircase, Willow walked through before she started to head to the third floor. At the window in the stairwell, Willow stopped and looked into the distance.

And remembered the Battle for Sunnydale.

The day humanity won after months of the world being under the control of demons.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, 0725 hours (Present day.)**

With most of the dragons that were going after the Sunnydale army base killed, or dying, thanks to the 302's that were buzzing around in the sky, as well as the railguns from the Daedalus and the energy weapons from the Tria; the Ancient warship then changed it's targets to the twenty or so more dragons that were attacking the larger target, Atlantis.

"Dr. Weir" said Helia as she contacted the City-ship over her communication system as they and the Air Force vessel opened fire on the dragons that had been attacking the city's shield, "these creatures will be taken care of as soon as possible. Once they have been cleared, the shield must be retracted so that the Tria can beam in more drones from the outposts. Has the chair room managed to remotely connect to the outpost in what you call Death Valley?"

"Not yet" said Dr. Weir over the audio systems, "Rema said that a crystal blew. She's fabricating a new one… she'll need five minutes."

'Understood" said Helia, "notify me once you are ready to fire."

'Will do" said Dr. Weir as Helia terminated the connection. She then looked at another of her bridge crew and ordered that they keep on firing at the upcoming dragons, and fire some drones into the outskirts of the Sunnydale base so that they could kill as many demons as possible without harming those who were fighting on the ground.

On the roof of one of those building that were covered by a shield, General Landry looked on as his personnel, as well as the Slayers, were all fighting the incoming mass of demons together as one unit. He saw Buffy using all her strength to fight six demons that were coming at her. He saw her use the scythe as she slowly dispatched one after another with Liam right beside her until the scythe itself was red with the blood of demons. He had seen Buffy fight before, but that was against a maximum of a hundred demons when they tried to run over the base and Buffy, Kennedy and the other Slayer had stopped them. He then looked up when he heard buzzing sounds and noticed the yellow light being fired from the Tria that were headed towards the ground.

He then covered his eyes from the massive explosions nearby from the sixty drones that were fired from the Tria; all the drones killing thousands of demons as they exploded all around the outskirts of the base.

'But this.. this is different' thought the General to himself as he looked at Buffy once the explosions had cleared while firing his M16, and then a RPG, into the large mass of demons, "I've never seen her this confident. Rupert told me that she used to fight alone, that even though she was with her friends, she was still alone… the had no resources to help them… maybe that was caused her to opened the Hellmouth. She wanted to finish the threat to the Earth before it became something more.. but she miscalculated. Her mistrust of the military, of outside help caused her to do things on her own. But she's changed in the sixth months since she arrived here. She's… she's exhausted but still fighting and…"

"This is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship Odyssey to General Landry or General Hammond, do you copy?"

General Landry looked at the radio on his shoulder in surprise before he turned around and looked at General Hammond, who was looking back at him in surprise.

"This is General Landry."

"General" said Colonel Emerson as the Odyssey hovered over the base while continuing to fire her rail guns at the dragons, "we've been ordered by General Jack O'Neill, head of Home World Security to render any assistance, sir. Please lower shields over your roof."

"Stand by" said the General as he pointed at one of the Lanteans and signalled him to retract the shield. Once the shield was retracted there were three bright flashes of light that appeared on the roof, as well as in various other places all around the base. The two General's, and then Giles looked on as Colonel Carter, Major Willow and another larger man with a golden tattoo on his forehead materialized in black armour while Odyssey remained hovering over the building.

"Sir' said the Colonel, "I am…"

"Lt. Colonel Sam Carter" said General Landry as the Colonel smiled and nodded her head.

"And this is Teal'c of the Free Jaffa Nation, and you know Major Rosenberg" said the Colonel.

"Sir" said Major Willow as she nodded her head, before looking at one of the three Puddle Jumpers, "with your permission, I'd like to borrow one of the Jumpers for an important mission."

"Which is?" asked General Hammond.

"Relocation of the President and his Cabinet to a friendly world in the event of a near total loss, sir" said Colonel Cater, "Home World Security directive one. The President's to be protected at all costs, even taken off world to our Alpha site.. since there's no Alpha site in this reality… we're taking him to a planet called Edina where he'll be safe. But sir, we need to do this now. Please?"

"Go" said General Hammond as Willow nodded her head and ran to one of the Puddle Jumpers before closing the door behind her. A few seconds later, the small ship went up into the air and then headed into the Odyssey's flight pod. Colonel Emerson then asked General Landry to raise the shield again and that Colonel Carter would explain everything. Once General Landry acknowledged, General Hammond told the Lanteans to raise the shield again as the Odyssey took off high up into the sky while taking down some four dragons with her Ancient weapons system at the same time. Once the Earth ship disappeared, the two General's, and Giles, looked at Colonel Carter and Teal'c and asked what was going on.

"We've placed a few others from my team, SG-1… and members of another team, SG-14 around the base in this armour. They'll be helping you take care of these things while the Odyssey goes into orbit and scans Area 51, which is where Major Rosenberg informed us that the President is located, and…."

'Guys?" said Violet's voice over the radio, "some armoured guys showed up firing some ray gun thingy's… which is so cool by the way, but are they ours? Anyone?"

"Yes" said General Landry over his radio as the Colonel nodded her head, and then looked at Teal'c before the both of them took position over the edge of the roof before the Colonel tapped her headset.

"SG-1, SG-14" said the Colonel as she raised one hand and fired the plasma repeaters one arm at a time into the mass of demons, as did Faith, Daniel, Vala and the others in the black armour all around the base, "you know what to do. The Odyssey has her orders and we have ours, kill as many as you can. Take them down until the Odyssey gets back here."

"Colonel Carter" said General Hammond as he took up point next t her and General Landry, "what are your exact orders?"

"Retrieve the President and his Cabinet, and whoever's with him" said the Colonel as he fired, "we suspected that Major Rosenberg would pilot Atlantis here, but we weren't really sure. SO the initial plan was to beam the Stargate in the Antarctic to the Odyssey, and then.. if everything went to hell, send any survivors to another friendly world. But with Atlantis here, that plan had to be changed. We'll have to beam the President and his team to the Odyssey, and then transport him through the Puddle Jumper through the Atlantis Stargate to a friendly world for the time being until this gets clears."

"General O'Neill?" asked General Hammond, "I knew the man… sad thing what happened to his son."

"Yes, sir" said the Colonel, "Major Rosenberg told us what happened to your Colonel O'Neill. Our General O'Neill is the head of Home World Security and has complete authority in the event of alien invasion on Earth. In that emergency, directive one is automatically activated; his powers supersede the President's until he's been placed out of harm's way. Then the President takes over command again from a safe planet while General O'Neill and the Joint Chiefs command American military forces with someone from the IOA as liaison between us and the President; in the meantime all space based military forces are placed under General O'Neill's control against any invasions. We've never had to use those powers….. ever, but he's ordered us to carry that out here in the event that everything goes pear shaped… with the full support of our President Hayes."

"Sam!" said Faith from one part of the base while she was firing her weapons at demons that were coming at her, Anya, four Slayers and a few soldiers while the armband wearers were out fighting the demons… trying their best to thin out their ranks. The dark haired alternate Slayer appeared behind another Slayer who was surprised to see the seven demons who were coming towards her and some other soldiers next to her get shot with orange pulses of light from behind her. She turned around to see a grinning Faith in black armour who then turned and fired more of the plasma bursts while shouting at the Slayers and the soldiers to continue firing, "we're getting low on demons here.. I think. The Tria's doing as much as she could."

"Keep firing' said the Colonel into her radio as she and the others continued to fire; each blast that hit the demons killed them. It was a few minutes later, however, that it seemed as if the small military contingent had won… the demons were starting to retreat.. however, the dragons were still attacking Atlantis with another ten large dragons coming their way.

Buffy was the first to notice the demons retreating before she fell on one knees while Liam held on to her shoulder and tried to calm her down. Buffy could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she saw the demons run away… and she could hear some of the Slayers and soldiers cheering. IT was then she noticed the people in black armour looking around confused while Dawn landed right next to her before kneeling down and healing her sister.

"Thanks…. Thanks, Dawnie" said Buffy as she panted and smiled at her sister.

"It's not over yet, Buffy" said Dawn as she closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, "I'm getting something from Willow, and Tara… something's wrong. And…"

"Perceptive" said the First a she appeared in Dawn's form. It then looked at Dawn who glared at it before she walked towards the First.

"You killing me helped my mother save me" said Dawn as she gathered white energy in her hands, "and now…."

Before Dawn could finish… everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard a loud roar in the distance. The skin of each and every Slayer, Witch, Ancient, Lantean and Military personnel crawled as a chill came over them. There was another loud roar in the distance as the First laughed at the humans in the base.

"You are all dead!" shouted the First as it continued to laugh. IT was then everyone heard a loud bang from the sky as a puddle jumper shot by overheard after it broke the sound barrier while the other F-302's were heading back up into the sky.

"You're all done" said the First as Dawn, Buffy and the other looked at it.

 **Odyssey, Earth orbit, three minutes earlier.**

"Sir" said the Major next to Colonel Emerson, "we're connected to SATCOM 1, 2, and 3; connection established with NORAD, SPACECOM, and Area 51."

"Open a channel to Area 51" said Colonel Emerson as he stood up and walked towards the large window at the forward section of the ship, "President Henry Hayes, my name is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Air Force vessel Odyssey, do you copy me, sir? I repeat, this is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship, Odyssey calling President Hayes."

"This is President Henry Hayes, Colonel… how.. who..?"

"Sir" said Colonel Emerson, "we're from Major Rosenberg's reality. I was told you've already met her. Home World Security Directive One's been initiated, sir. The protection of yourself, the Cabinet, and anyone who is with you at this time is top priority."

"Colonel" said Hayes, "I will not run from this fight."

"Your protection is paramount, sir" said Colonel Emerson as he nodded at another Captain who told him that there were a total of thirty people in the underground bunker. HE told the Colonel that non-human life signs were all over the place on the surface of Nellis Air Force base, "stand by…."

"Colonel…."

"With all due respect, sir" said Colonel Emerson, "your safety is paramount."

The Colonel then looked at the ort station and told the Captain there to beam everyone n that bunker down to the hanger where Willow was waiting for them in the Puddle Jumper. Major Willow was outside checking the jumper when thirty lights flashed, revealing President Hayes, his wife, his secret service detail, ad a few others.

"Welcome to the Odyssey, Mr. President" said Major Willow as she and some of the other officers in flight bay saluted the man who was looking all over the place before he returned Willow's salute. It was a few seconds later that his wife tapped him on the shoulder and turned him around; all while the secret service agents were aiming their weapons at Willow. The President then turned around and told his people to put down their guns before he asked Willow why they beamed him up against his wishes.

"Sir" said Major Willow, "we haven't launched ..…."

"Major!" said Colonel Emerson's voice over the speakers, "get to a wall panel, we have a new problem."

Willow ran to a panel on the wall and pressed a button to activate a hidden screen that showed a scan of the Earth. She, followed by the President and the First Lady, as well as a few other amazed members of the Cabinet were looking at the screen while others were walking inside the Puddle Jumper in awe.

"Oh God" said Major Willow as she pressed a button next to the screen, "sir, are the sensors…."

"The sensors are working" said Colonel Emerson, "it just appeared on our scans after it emerged from the Pacific. It's huge… the size of five O'Neill class ships placed end on end. We estimated three minutes before it reaches Sunnydale. Take the President to Edina."

"Colonel" said the President before Colonel Emerson interrupted him.

"Sir" said Colonel Emerson over the radio, "we're going into battle again. We'll save those we can… this is something unexpected and I'm not sure if the Tria and us can handle this alone."

"The drones, sir?" asked Major Willow, "that's why I brought Atlantis here.. it should have remotely connected to the outposts."

"Dr. Weir told me a crystal blew" said the Colonel as Willow silently cursed, "your orders stand, Major. Get the President and the Cabinet to Edina. Then get back… I need you in Atlantis to assist with the repairs and then once that's been done… launch the drones."

"Understood" said Willow as she closed the connection and faced the President, "sir, if we can't get the drones fired, or if the Asgard don't get here in time… then we'll save who we can and launch Atlantis to a peaceful planet. I know it's hard… but you're our leader… and we need you safe. The first job is to talk to the elders on the planet I'm taking you and your people to… it's peaceful… you need to ask permission for them to accept refugees."

"But…." said another man.

"If we can't stop this" said Willow, "everyone we save needs a home… Edina's the best bet we have. Now we need to go… please. Mr. President, please."

The President closed his eyes and hung his head. He hated doing this.. he hated feeling helpless and leaving people behind. But he also knew that if they couldn't succeed, then their time as a race was over.. they'd be homeless people unless they could ask for shelter beforehand. The President then looked at Willow and nodded his head; the redhead then shouted and told everyone to squeeze into the Puddle Jumper… that it was going to be a very tight fit; but it won't be as bad for long.

"We'll be at Atlantis in under a minute at maximum speed" said Willow as she grabbed the controls inside the ship and closed the rear door shut before taking off. She then activated the HUD and told the President, and everyone around him to memorise the symbol on the holographic interface; the dialling sequence from Edina to Earth so that the President could be in touch… and stay in command of the military forces. Once the President nodded his head, The First Lady then sat next to Willow as she saw the ship take off before the shields flashed as the ship went though the energy barrier, "Odyssey, good hunting."

"Get them to Edina, Major" said Colonel Emerson from the ship, "good luck."

Once the Puddle Jumper had entered the atmosphere and shot towards Atlantis, Colonel Emerson gave the order for all the F-302's to return to the ship.

"Rail guns ready" said the Colonel, "reload the missile tubes with the Naquada enhanced weapons, ready the Ancient Weapons system. Inform Commander Helia of what's coming towards Sunnydale. Once we have our birds back, we're going in… fire at the creature once we're through the atmosphere…. Do not wait for my order."

"Yes, sir" said everyone in the bridge.

 **Edina, 0740 hours.**

A pregnant Joyce was walking slowly on the trail with her arm wrapped around Jayden as they headed up the small hill that overlooked the village that had been her home for the past three years. The trail led to what the people of Edina called the Ring of the Gods. She walked slowly, this was a regular ritual of hers, before Jayden had to leave to tend the fields while Joyce went over to the school she started in the village. Joyce suddenly stopped and rubbed her extended abdomen while giving a small smile before she looked at Jayden.

"He is kicking?" asked Jayden.

"Yes, she is" said Joyce smiling as she gently grabbed Jayden's hand and placed it on her abdomen, smiling when there was another kick that Jayden had felt.

"That kick means that he is a boy" said Jayden as Joyce placed her head on his shoulder while they continued towards the Stargate that was standing upright on its pedestal.

"Buffy's strong too, you know" said Joyce, "so's Dawn… it's a girl."

"We will find out soon" smiled Jayden as Joyce laughed before she suddenly stopped, "I really do wish that Buffy, and Dawn were here. They'd know that they have a new baby brother or sister."

"I wish they were here too" said Jayden as he gently turned Joyce until she was facing him, "I would love to meet them. Maybe one day this Loki will return and bring you home to Earth… I hope when that day comes…."

"If that day ever comes" said Joyce, "then you're coming with me… but I know it's not. Edina's my home now, you're my husband… and this is our child. I mean.. I keep thinking that Loki will come back and…."

Upon hearing a sound from the circular object, Jayden and Joyce looked at it before looking at each other again.

"Has it done that before?" asked Joyce as two more chevrons lit up.

"Not in my memory" said Jayden as he held Joyce close to him while stepping back slowly when the seventh chevron lit up. The two of them jumped back slightly when the unstable vortex erupted outwards before settling back into the wormhole.

"What the…." Said Joyce when a brownish green cylindrical ship came out from the blue puddle before it flew up into the air while Joyce and Jayden looked on as it came about and then landed to one side. Joyce couldn't believe her eyes as they teared up when she saw who was landing the ship, "it.. it… Willow?"

"Joyce?" asked Jayden as the pregnant Joyce walked towards the rear of the ship where the ramp had already come down. They were watching as a throng of people walk out into the open air while looking at the surroundings. It was then that she saw a man, and another woman, look at her before striding towards her.

"Mrs Summers" said the President as he and the First Lady walked towards Joyce with a radio in his hand while the rear door of the Puddle Jumper closed again, "My name is President Henry Hayes, and this is my Wife, Carolyn Hayes."

"President? President of… of the U.S? Earth? But…. Willow" said Joyce as she watched the ship float up into the air while the edges of the Stargate lit up again.

"Mrs. Summers" said Major Willow's voice over the radio as Joyce put her hands over her mouth while Jayden held on to the woman, "I'm sorry I've got to leave like this… I know how you got here… but.. but for now I need you to protect the President. I need you to protect our people because Earth is in danger and we don't know if we can win. President Hayes will tell you everything you need to know. We need a safe haven… I wish I could tell you more; but we're doing everything we can to save Earth. You know what's out there now… and… and…"

"Major" said President Hayes softly as he saw Joyce crying, "I'll check in with Atlantis every ten minutes."

'Understood, sir" said Major Willow as the Stargate reactivated, "and Mrs. Summers… Buffy and Dawn love you. They'll be safe."

"Willow" said Joyce as she took the radio that the President handed her after she wiped her tears and rushed, with the help of Jayden to the front of the ship where she looked at Willow who gave her a small smile, "come back."

"We will" said Major Willow as she flew the ship through the Stargate which then deactivated.

"President Hayes?" asked the older blonde as she turned while wiping her eyes again, "oh God, that's where I knew you from. You were a senator three years ago."

"Yes" said President Hayes.

"This is my husband, Jayden" said Joyce.

"Jayden" said the President, "Major Rosenberg told us that you are an elder of your village?"

"Umm.. yes…" he said, "but how…."

"I can explain to you and Mrs. Summers what I know; but in the meantime… I would like to request a safe haven for our people" said the President as Joyce looked on shocked, as did Jayden.

"I will assemble the Elders and…" said Jayden just as Joyce looked at him in surprise, and then looked at the ground, and then at Jayden again.

"I.. I think my water broke" said Joyce as the First Lady ran to Joyce who doubled over in pain.

"Mrs. Summers" she said while the President and the others couldn't do anything but watch helplessly, "I'm… well, was… a registered nurse… is there a doctor? When are you supposed to be due?"

"In.. village" said Joyce while Jayden held on to Joyce's shoulders, "due.. two… more weeks."

"Hank" said the First Lady as he looked at the President, "we need to take her to a doctor… she needs to be in a clean place.. and I mean right now."

"Let's go" said the President as they headed towards the village.

 **Sunnydale Army Base, 0742 hours.**

Willow and Tara where firing magical bolts against a few demons who came back thinking that they could launch a surprise attack. They two witches and the others put the demons down before the surrounding area was completely devoid of living demons… although it was littered with dead demons, and humans. Once the demons had retreated, the ones wearing the armbands had returned to the base, with this reality's Colonel Carter and Riley heading straight up to where General Landry and Hammond where located. It was then that the surprised Colonel Carter saw the armoured Colonel Carter from Major Willow's reality.

"Woah" said Sam, this reality's Colonel Carter as she approached Major Willow's Carter, "this is weird."

"Not really" said the Colonel as Teal'c stood next to her, "had it happen once before… a Dr. Carter came through a device….."

"Colonel Carter" said Colonel Emerson's voice over the radio, "we have something that's heading to the Sunnydale base… take shelter…. We don't…"

It was then that everyone turned towards the direction of a roar in the distance.

"What's going on?" asked Buffy as Dawn looked out into the distance, along with Faith and Anya who was standing next to Xander.

"Colonel Carter" said Colonel Emerson over the radio, "get everyone out… evacuate the base. Take the Jumpers to Atlantis… move it."

"Sir" said Colonel Carter as she looked at General Hammond, and then at General Landry, "we need to…."

There was another roar that made everyone turn around.

Colonel Carter's, as well as the others, eyes went wide in terror as they saw a gigantic dragon-like creature flying towards them before landing in the distance on four legs. The armoured blonde officer then shouted for everyone to get into the nineteen Puddle Jumpers so that they could leave for Atlantis. In the meantime, Willow and Tara saw what it was in the distance as it landed… then they looked at each other before they turned and shouted for everyone to leave for the Puddle Jumpers.

"Oh dear lord" said Giles who walked to one end of the roof and took off his glasses before wiping them and putting them on again. He then turned around and told everyone to get out.. that if they stayed then everyone would die.

"I've read about this thing… it's supposed to be a myth" said Giles as some Puddle Jumpers took off before landing immediately near the infirmary where the injured were being squeezed into the ships, "it's supposed to be an Old One… the story went that it was sealed within the Earth by sorcerers, never to be released again. It's powerful, it has scales that protect the flesh underneath… this… this is the leviathan."

"Oh God" said Colonel Carter as she looked as the creature pulled back it's heavily scaled long neck. She, and the others, could see a red glow that went up from the body, and then up the neck before it lowered its head and roared as a stream of blistering hot flames shot out through its mouth.

They expected the fire to hit them in seconds, that there wouldn't be enough time for anyone to evacuate; however, just before the flame hit… there was a white shield that held out the flames from hitting the base.

"What's going on?" asked General Landry through the radio.

"Willow, Tara, Faith, Dawn and Anya put up a shield" said Xander over the radio, "it's hurting them… we need to leave…. Now."

The General then shouted through his radio ordering everyone to move faster. It was then that the leviathan stopped breathing fire before it walked forward and roared.. the ground beneath everyone trembling. It then saw Atlantis in the distance as the remaining dragons fell after being killed by the Tria. The leviathan shot at the city's shields while everyone looked in surprise..certain that the city won't be able to take that hit. However, the city shield's flared as the stream of fire hit it; but the city remained unharmed.

In the meantime, everyone was rushing to whatever Jumper they could find while the Tria flew over the base and started firing it's energy weapons, and it's remaining supply of drones. Buffy and the others helped Willow, Tara, Dawn, Faith and Anya whose hands and arms were slightly singed to some of the Puddle Jumpers just as they heard the sound of thunder from overheard. Looking up, they saw the Odyssey enter the atmosphere… and then once through, they saw her fire all of her missiles while the Tria flew clear. The Leviathan roared at the Tria before it fired a stream of hot flames at it.

Buffy, Dawn and the other Scoobies who were then joined by Liam while John and Jane were helping some of the other personnel, looked on as the flames hit the Tria's shields which flared as the ship flew around the creature before firing it's energy weapons again. Just then, everyone closed their eyes and thirty naquada enhanced missiles hit the Leviathan all over its body while at the same time both ships where firing their energy weapons. They saw the two ships get hit with the flames while they continued to fire their weapons as the Leviathan screamed out loud.

"its armour is thick" said The First as it appeared in front of Buffy, taking on Faith's form, "nothing… not even those weapons can hurt it. The best those ships are doing is tickling it."

Buffy watched as the Odyssey came about and fired its railguns and energy weapons, followed by thirty more missiles, at the Leviathan before she looked at the First who was grinning at her. She heard the loud explosions as she looked back at the First and smiled as the wind blowing around them due to the shockwave caused by the explosions sent her hair all which way.

"B" said Faith after she healed her injuries, and Dawn had healed Willow's and Tara's injuries, "we're here…. we're not going anywhere."

"You stupid girl" said the First as it looked at Faith, "you're already dead."

The First then stepped back and grinned as its face went inside out while growing in size until it was a seven foot tall horned, robed demon. The First then spread it's arms and pulled away it's robed before roaring at the Scoobies.

"General Landry" said Buffy as Xander who was holding onto an axe used his speed to run at the demon who swiped him away to one side. Anya then used her powers to fly over to the man who was rubbing his head as she landed and then started to heal him while scolding him at the same time for being so foolhardy, "get everyone out of here. The First just made itself known and…. and this is our job…. I started this. And I'm gonna finish it. Get the others home."

"Understood" said General Landry as he looked at his radio while Giles, who was standing next to him looked out into the distance where he saw the First walking about in its full demonic form, "and good luck, Miss Summers."

"Buffy" said Giles as he took the radio from General Landry while the others were heading into the Puddle Jumper behind them, "you can't…"

"If I don't see you again, Giles" said Buffy as Giles looked on, "know that you've been like a father to me. I love you."

"Buffy?" said Giles as he pressed the button, but the signal never went through since Buffy destroyed the radio on her end. She then looked behind at Dawn and the others before telling them to head to Atlantis, that this was her problem to fix.

"No" said Dawn as she rose into the air, her hands gathering energy.

"Dawnie!" shouted Buffy, "I need you to…"

"B" said Faith as she and Anya, who had already helped Xander heal his wounds, rose into the air as well with white energy being gathered in her hands while ten more Slayers headed towards them led by Violet, "we're not going anywhere."

"Neither are we" said Violet as she stopped next to Liam who had an axe, "I told the other Slayers to head to the City. We're helping you, so… let's go."

"Stay out of its range" said Dawn as she fired a white blast, as did Faith and Anya. They kept the first off balance from the air while Willow and Tara fired magical blasts at it from the surface. That had given Buffy, Liam, and the others several openings to hit the First's physical body with everything they could. They could hear the First scream in rage as it tried to reach for the three former Ascended beings while Buffy and the other were cutting it's thick skin.

"You'll all die!" screamed the First as it managed to get hold of three Slayers before biting their heads off and throwing them to one side. Despite that however, the remaining Slayers continued to fight.

While there was a massive fight between the Slayers and the First, some of the Puddle Jumpers had already taken off towards Atlantis. In the meantime, Sam was ready to pilot the Jumper… much to Colonel Carter's surprise upon hearing that the Asgard had given her the Ancient gene, when there was an alarm as a new HUD popped up just as the rear door closed with a despondent Giles giving a faraway look.

"Colonels" said General Hammond as he looked at both Carter's, 'what's going on?"

"Fourteen hyperspace windows just opened" said the armoured Colonel Carter as she smiled at the HUD, and then at her alternate before looking back at General Hammond, "it's the Asgard, sir.'

"This is Thor, supreme Commander of the Asgard fleet on the Belisknir" said the grey alien as he appeared on the side screen of the Odyssey as she and the Tria continued to fire at the Leviathan, "unknown vessel, our scans are reading that you have Asgard technology within…"

'Thor" said Colonel Emerson as he held on to something while the ship made a hard turn to starboard, "my name is Colonel Paul Emerson of the Earth ship Odyssey. We're from another reality using technology that the Asgard and Nox in my reality have given us to complete this mission; To bring home Major Willow Rosenberg, I believe you've met."

'Indeed, Colonel" said Thor sounding surprised.

"The Hyperdrive and shields were a gift from our Asgard" said the Colonel, "they've had some advancement which I'm sure that our Asgard would be pleased to share with their counterparts in this reality. But for now, our shields are at thirty percent and the Tria's shields are at twenty five. Any assistance would be appreciated. We've got a large…. thing down here."

"The Belisknir and three other vessels will be coming to your area, Colonel" said Thor, "our other vessels will be scouring across the planet and neutralizing any non-human life signs before beginning the process of scrubbing the radiation from the air."

"Understood, Emerson out."

Meanwhile, at the Sunnydale Army base, the First had thrown Buffy to one side as she landed hard on the ground with the scythe by her side. She looked up at a bleeding, but still strong First swiping away Xander, and it had even succeeded in jumping and swatting away Dawn and Anya like they were nothing. However, they healed nearly instantly after being injured while Buffy stood up slowly when she looked in front of her and noticed purple energy blasts coming from the sky as it hit the Leviathan. She saw the creature scream out loud as the Odyssey and the Tria continued to fire its energy weapons as five more ships that had what looked like Hammerheads came through the clouds and started to attack the creature. The seven ships fired continuously but the creature still thrashed under the heavy bombardment of energy weapons.

"Buffy!" shouted Dawn as she and the others ran towards her while the First was down on its side, slowly getting up at it glared at the blonde Slayer. Dawn, and the others ran up to Buffy and stood around her while Willow, Tara and the former Ascended beings formed an energy shield around them before the brunette told Buffy that the last Jumper, that had Giles, arrived in Atlantis.

"I also got a mental message from my alternate" said Willow as the First, in a fit of rage, raced towards them and started to pound on the shield itself, "they did it… they just managed to remotely gain access to the Death Valley outpost."

"What?" asked Buffy as she looked at the First who was trying to smash it's way in.

"You'll see" said Willow.

"You look tired" said Buffy as she looked at Willow who was flinching every time the First hit the shield, as was Tara, Dawn, Faith, and Anya. Buffy then looked at an exhausted Xander who was kneeling down and panting; as well as the other Slayers… some of whom were injured while Violet was panting hard; she then looked at Liam who ran up beside her, "Liam, can you give me a throw towards the First?"

"I… I can" said Liam, "but why?"

"Trust me" said Buffy as she shoed Liam what she wanted him to do, "I need to give these guys some breathing room. If I fail, then you need to protect them. You're kinda stronger than me.. so… yeah.."

"Buffy" said Liam as he frowned while looking at the blonde Slayer, "what you are thinking of doing is….'

"Foolish?" asked Buffy as Willow yelped when the First hit the shield again, "they can't take it for too long. Whatever's coming, I don't think we can wait… and… and I know you're not Angel. I do… so if I happen to die then… oh what the hell."

Buffy pulled the man's head down and gave him a deep kiss before she ran back grinning while Liam looked on surprised.

"Now!" shouted Buffy as she ran towards Liam who crouched down and interlocked his fingers together, creating a cup in which Buffy, the scythe in her hand, stepped on as the clone pushed Buffy into the air. She flew out of the shield as she swung the scythe's blade into the side of the First's demonic form. With the scythe stuck in the raging body of the First, Buffy pulled the blade out and fell to the ground… the First's blood spraying all over the place as it screamed. It was then Buffy heard buzzing sounds coming from the air as Major Willow, who was sitting on the control Chair in Atlantis after having remotely activated the drones in the Sunnydale outpost, mentally told her to get down.

 _Willow: "Twenty thousand drones heading to you in ten seconds. Stay down, Buff."_

 _Buffy: "K"_

Buffy lay on her back as the First prepared to hit her when it stopped, and then looked up into the sky and screamed. Buffy looked back as she saw the ships heading away from the still roaring, and flame breathing, leviathan. She then rolled on her stomach as two large columns of yellow light avoided the ships and punched through the leviathan as it screamed in pain from being turned into what Buffy could only think of as Swiss cheese. She saw the drones tear into the Leviathan's unshielded body… it's thick armour not even slowing down the Ancient weapons as it tore through. Xander, Liam, and the other Slayers watched transfixed as the weapons then came about and tore through the creature again, and it continued to do the same until nothing of the leviathan remained.

"No!" shouted the First as it looked down at Buffy who was looking back up at it, "you will….."

"Die" hissed Buffy as a single column of the drones ripped through the First's physical body, and then another column tore though… as did another one… and another one until the screaming body was destroyed. Once nothing remained of the First's physical body, the drones gathered into two columns before spreading out into the sky… Major Willow telling Buffy that she'll be controlling the twenty thousand drones… that they still had enough power to seek out and destroy whatever non-human life signs they could find on the surface of the planet. She had told Buffy that with that many drones… and with Atlantis' sensors… she could destroy whatever non-human life signs she could find on the surface of at most a third of the U.S before the energy in the drones ran out. She told Buffy that the Asgard were taking care of the other demons.

Buffy slowly rose up as Willow and the others lowered the shield; as did Atlantis. Buffy looked around the area at the dead bodies and the destruction that was caused; but now the war was finally over. They had just brought humanity back from the brink.

Buffy heard the cheers from behind her, but all she could do was look around.

'I still did this' thought Buffy to herself, 'it was me. We saved the world, but it wouldn't have needed saving from the apocalypse if I wasn't an idiot.'

It would be a few minutes later that a Puddle Jumper landed in front of Buffy. The rear door opened to reveal Generals Hammond, and Landry… as well as Giles who looked at Buffy before she broke down in his arms; the horrors and the nightmares of the past seven months finally taking a toll on the young blonde Slayer.

 **City of New Sunnydale, 2000 hours; The year 2457.**

Willow had just parked her car on the driveway before she got out and stood on the walkway as she looked at the house in front of her. She then leaned against her car and smiled before she walked to the back and opened the trunk. Taking out the long metal case that was inside the truck, Willow then closed it and headed back to the walkway leading to the front porch.

"It looks just like my house used to" said a familiar voice as Willow smiled and looked to her left at the blonde who was walking slowly beside her in a white and grey dress, "how weird is that?"

"With what our lives used to be, Buffy?" said Willow as she looked at her best friend, "not really that weird."

Buffy smiled at the former redhead before she looked at the house again. She then closed her eyes and remembered heading to Edina with Dawn soon after the First and the Leviathan were defeated.

They heard that Joyce was in labour.

Dawn was the one who excitedly pulled Buffy through the Stargate and the two sisters ran down the trail, and then once they reached the village.. they rushed past the President and his people to the doctor's office where Joyce was lying down screaming. A tear came from Buffy's eye as she remembered the look on Joyce's face as she saw her daughters again… daughters that she thought she would never see again. The two of them then helped Joyce introduce their baby brother into the world. Things then changed as Buffy looked at an excited Joyce who was hugging both her and Dawn while Jayden was smiling at the baby they named Jay.

Buffy wanted to leave it all behind her.

While Dawn and Buffy were in Edina, Major Willow and the rest of SG-1, Sg-14 and the Odyssey were preparing to leave for their own reality. Before that, however, Colonel Mitchell, the two Colonel Carters, General Hammond, General Landry, Giles, Dr. Weir, Commander Helia, Thor, and Colonel Emerson were talking. They were telling Thor and Helia about the advancements they had made back in their reality, with the Colonel Carter from Major Willow's reality offering the specifications to their rail guns so that Atlantis could be better protected. It was at that time that she handed her NASA counterpart the computer that contained specifications on all of their technology. Colonel Emerson then offered Thor access to the advancements that their reality's Asgard had made to the hyper-drive. While they continued to talk for thirty more minutes, Major Willow, the two Faith's, Tara, Xander and a few others where on the South Pier where the Odyssey had landed following the battle. The ship was parked next to the Belisknir, with the Tria and the other ships of the Asgard who were helping in the fight against the Leviathan and the First.

"This was such a weird day" said Willow as she walked to the edge of the pier with Major Willow as they looked at the Odyssey, and then at the people behind them who were talking among themselves; the alternate Faith being particularly amazed with what her formerly ascended alternate could do. Willow then looked at the Major and laughed, "a weird couple of days."

"Everyone survived though" said Major Willow as she looked at Tara, and then back at her alternate, "sorry about Kennedy. If it makes you feel any better, she's in a relationship with Tara in my reality."

"She happy?" asked Willow.

"Yea" said the Major, "really happy."

"And you're married to Faith?" asked Willow as Major Willow nodded her head before she looked at her Faith who was still in her Kull armour and laughing at something Xander said.

"Yep" said Major Willow looking back at her counterpart, "what are you gonna do now?"

"Bury the dead" said Willow, "we'll mourn for a while... then we're rebuilding."

Major Willow smiled as the both of them continued to talk to each other. It wasn't too long before Daniel, Teal', and Vala had come by the group who were excited when they heard from the armored Faith who Vala and Teal'c really were. Major Willow laughed at all the funny questions that the two aliens were being asked. Soon, it had become time for the Oddysey to leave. Teh ship, as well as the Belisknir had taken off from Atlantis' pier; the Odyssey scheduled to leave for their own reality using the Reality Drive, while the Belisknir was going to make a trip to a black hole in the Andromeda galaxy to get rid of its very special cargo.

As the two ships rose through the sky and then entered orbit, Major Willow said one last goodbye to her counterpart... as well as to Giles, Xander, Faith, Anya, Tara, their Colonel Carter, General Landry who were in Thor's ship accompanying him for a return trip. They wanted to see a very special sight. In the meantime, Willow and the other said goodbye to the people on Thor's vessel before the screen on Thor's console deactivated. They then ran to the window on one side of the room they were in and saw the Odyssey open a pink hued hyperspace window before she sped through it. Once it closed behind the ship, Thor opened a hyperspace window for the Belisknir and the human crew soon found themselves flying through hyperspace. It too a few minutes for the ship to enter into the Andromeda galaxy, and it was soon they saw their destination.

"That's so cool" said Xander as he stood next to Giles who was wiping his glasses before putting them on again. Faith and Anya looked at each other and smiled before telling the group that they know it's cool before grinning at them. As the ship got closer to the accretion disc of the blackhole, Thor notified them from behind his console that he was ready to release the cargo.

"Do it, Thor" said Willow.

There were then multiple flashes of white light in open space as severed arms, legs, torso's and heads of the Three; the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart were sent tumbling through space towards the black hole; their eternal prison. They watched the piece head towards the blackhole after the pieces were captured by its intense gravity before the Beliskner came about and then headed back for Earth.

It was a few days later after Major Willow and the Odyssey had left that Buffy told Joyce everything that happened on Earth; including the fact that she was the one who opened the Hellmouth… that she was the reason why billions of people died.

"I'm gonna help them rebuild, mom" said Buffy while the President, Dr. Weir and Helia was speaking with the Elders, "Giles is working with the military on creating a new version of the Council. I'll explain what happened later, but what I did?"

"Buffy" said Joyce.

"Once that's been done I was thinking about coming to stay with you here" said Buffy as Joyce looked on in surprise, "I haven't told the others but…"

"It's a big decision" said Joyce, "are you sure that…."

"I know that some people will eventually know what I did" said Buffy, "and while others will know that I did everything I could to fix my mistake…. They'll still hate me. It was my decision.. and if I stay on Earth, then Giles and the others will be smeared with my name. They don't deserve that. So mom? Can I stay here?"

"Of course" said Joyce, "we've got a lot to catch up on, Honey."

It was three years after the Battle over Sunnydale that Giles, with the help of Buffy, and the military, formed a new organization to watch over the supernatural threats to Earth; the Watchers Guild. It consisted of Slayers, military personnel, and witches; and their main responsibility was to prevent any demons that weren't purged by the Asgard from regaining a foothold. Eventually Buffy and Liam, who the blonde Slayer had been working with extensively, moved to Edina; the Scythe passed down to Faith who had Violet as her second in command.

Buffy, who would later have a younger sister and another brother, moved to Edina with Liam. The two were married after three years as Joyce, Giles and the Scoobies looked on. It was another two years later that Willow and Tara got married on the East pier of Atlantis; with the wedding presided over by Helia who was the new High Councillor of Atlantis after Major Willow had transferred that title to the Lantean woman. Helia had Dawn, who was herself in a relationship with one of the soldiers who served during the battle; as the liaison between President Hayes who was on his last term after being re-elected, and the Lanteans.

"I've been watching over Greg" said Buffy back in the future as she shook her head and pushed those memories to the back of her mind, "but I think if I showed myself to him now.. he'll freak out. I mean… seeing your great-great-great-great-great-great- oh for crying out loud- grandmother is gonna be really weird."

"House warming dinner on Kheb?" asked Willow as Buffy smiled and nodded her head before she vanished. Willow sighed and told Buffy she missed her before the redhead walked up the stairs. Willow was there the day Buffy's children were born… she got named as a godmother to three lovely boys. She remembered Buffy and Liam would dote on them whenever she visited the blonde Slayer between times she was helping Colonel Carter with creating new inventions. Willow still remembered the laptop that the alternate Colonel Carter had handed to Sam… it contained designs on Ancient shield and weapons technologies, mark two naquada reactors, railguns, sublight engines, and many other experimental technologies. With the help of the Lanteans and the Asgard, the Earth managed to get back on its feet in under fifteen years; with Dr. Weir the head of their version of Stargate Command that operated out of Atlantis thanks to an agreement between the Lanteans and the Earth humans. Whenever Willow was free, she and Dawn would visit Buffy. Eventually the redhead and Tara adopted a boy and girl, while Buffy herself eventually become a grandmother. All this while Xander and Anya had settled down in Atlantis, with the young man being a part of the first team that went through the Gate.

As Willow knocked on the door in front of her, she looked at the case she was carrying and remembered being by Buffy's bedside along with an older Liam, Dawn,her children, and grandchildren. She knew that Willow had a new cloned body which she had kept young, and Buffy reminded the redhead to stay young for as long as possible until the Slayer line was restarted.

"I entrust the Scythe to you" said Buffy, "find the last of us. Guard the Scythe like you did when you were Athena. Please?"

"I know who has it, Buff" said Willow, "her name's Kelly… she was activated when she was six. She's pretty good. I'll have the Guild make me her Watcher. And then once she dies… I'll keep the Scythe safe."

"Thank you" said Buffy as she held on to Willow's hand before she looked behind the redhead, "mommy, Giles…. You came. Finally…"

"Go with them, Buffy" said Willow with tears in her eyes as she placed the Slayer's hand on her chest as her body started to glow. Willow then held onto one of the blonde Slayer's grandsons, who was sobbing, and told him not to worry… that Buffy will watch over all of them. They watched as Buffy's body become a ball of white light as it pulsed for a few seconds before it shot out through the roof.

"It's my turn soon" said Willow softly back in the present as she stepped back, and then smiled at a confused Emily.

"Miss Rosenberg?" asked Emily with her eyes opened wide in panic, 'why are you here.. I mean… I'm sorry if I late for my second class but I…"

"It's not that, Emily" said Willow laughing, "I'm here for dinner. Your mom told me she makes a mean pizza."

"I said I can order a mean pizza, Willow" said Elaine as Willow laughed while walking into the foyer as Emily looked at Willow suspiciously. It was then that Gregory called everyone to come and eat. While eating, they caught Willow up on their lives while Emily just shyly ate a few slices of her pizza as she occasionally glancing at the long metal case that was lying on the couch. She then looked at Willow, who was looking back at her and smiling before she took another bite of the pizza and placed it on her paper plate.

"I've talked to the President" said Willow as Emily looked at her surprised, "he wants me to tell Emily the truth… that it's her choice from now on."

"You talked to President Lehane?" she asked while Willow, Elaine, and Gregory chuckled.

"Aunt Willow knew his great-great- oh forget it- grandmother" said Gregory as he chucked while Emily looked at him, and then at Willow surprised.

"Wait" she said, "you knew… huh… wait.. what?"

"Emily" said Elaine as she motioned towards Willow, "this is that Willow Rosenberg. Not her granddaughter… or great granddaughter. She's the same one who was there during the Battle over Sunnydale, the day they defeated the First Evil."

"She knew your great-grandmother, Buffy Summers" said Gregory.

"She was my best friend" said Willow as Emily looked at the redhead in shock, "your parents, their parents…. All the children and great grand children of the Scoobies who that I'm that Willow. And your parents will explain everything to you once I'm gone. But….. have you been feel weird… like getting stronger, more agile, more… hungry?"

"Yeah?" said Emily.

"Do you remember what a Slayer is?" asked Gregory as Emily looked at him in surprise.

"What?" asked Emily in surprise, "yeah.. I've read the textbooks about them but… but… wait.. you mean my strength, it's…"

"You're the first in a new Slayer line" said Willow as she mentally pulled the case to her hand. She then gently pushed the plate of pizza to one side before placing the case on the table, "but you have a choice that many Slayers didn't have. The President asked me to hand you the legacy of the Slayer, and from there you can make your choice."

Willow keyed in some numbers on a keypad on the top of the case. Once she input the numbers, a panel slide to one side revealing a palm scanner. The redhead placed her palm on the scanner and waited until it flashed green before there was a clicking sound. The three of them watched as Willow opened the case and handed Emily two data discs.

"Those are the Watcher Diaries" said Willow as she pointed to one disc before pointing to the second disc, "those are the Slayer diaries. They're for your eyes only, and if you do decide to become a Slayer and fight the demons and vampires that come in the darkness… the Watcher's Guild will assign you a Watcher; and you'll gain access to even more information that'll help you. As for your watcher, his or her duty is to train you, and to be your counsellor. You'll be given military back-up as well to help you when you need it."

"You'll never be alone, honey" said Gregory as Elaine nodded her head.

"And" said Willow, "whether you agree to become a Slayer or not, there is one piece of the Slayer legacy that'll remain with you until the day you die."

"Willow then took out the Scythe as Emily opened her eyes wide and got off the chair. She walked towards Willow while looking at the Scythe and asked if she could hold it.

"Yea" said Willow as she handed the newly called Slayer the mystical weapon.

"It feels… it feels" said Emily as she held the Scythe tightly while looking at it, and then looking up at Willow, "it feels like it belongs to me."

"It should" said Willow as Emily looked at the Scythe, "I wanna tell you a story before I go. A story about the woman who that weapon was made for, and then I wanna tell you about the blonde Slayer who was my best friend. I wanna tell you a story about the adventures she had as a Slayer, and her heartbreaks… I wanna tell you everything I could before I go… before I meet my family and friends."

"You're going to Ascend?" asked Gregory as Willow nodded her head, telling them that it was time.

"But first, I'm gonna tell you about Sineya… the first Slayer" said Willow as she turned to Emily who sat down while placing the Scythe on the table in front of her, "and then… and then I'm gonna tell you all about my best friend, your great-great-great-great-great-great…. Really great grandmother; Buffy Ann Summers, the Vampire Slayer."

The End.


End file.
